A Different Arrow
by Lauriverfanboy1
Summary: After 5 years apart, Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance are reunited, but Oliver is not the same person he once was and Laurel is the only person who knows everything he went through while he was away. Now he's returned to save his city and she wants to help him in anyway she can. AU where Oliver never cheated with Sara and Laurel knows his secret from the beginning. I suck at summaries
1. Chapter 1

It had been 5 years since Laurel Lance had lost the love of her life, Oliver Queen when the yacht he and his father had been on went down in the North China Sea. And to everyone else around her, it seemed as though had died on that day to.

Ever since her heart had been shattered, Laurel had become an entirely different person. She became distant, detached, quiet, really just a shell of her old self. She had also begun throwing herself entirely first into law school and then into her job at CNRI. Her mother had just given up on her and left their family and moved Central city, but her dad and sister Sara refused to give up, though none of their efforts seemed to yield any results, since they could not get through to the old Laurel.

Her friends, especially Tommy Merlyn and Oliver's little sister Thea Queen, were also having equal trouble getting through to her, since all Laurel really did when she wasn't at work was stay holed up in her apartment, looking at pictures of her and Oliver.

Everyday when she woke up in the morning, Laurel hoped to roll over and find Oliver laying down next to her, only to find that she was sleeping alone, the only thing waiting for her was the frame picture of Oliver she kept on her nightstand.

However, when she dragged herself out of bed today, she had no idea that her life was about to get better.

That is until she got a phone call.

"Hello." Laurel asked dimly.

"Laurel, turn on channel 4 now. It's Oliver. He's alive." Sara's voice said on the other end of the call.

Laurel dropped the phone instantly and turned on the TV to channel 4 just in time to see the story.

"Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago. Five years after he was presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed The Queen's was a tabloid presence and fixture on the club scene. Before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi. Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased." The news anchor said.

Laurel couldn't stop the tears of joy that were coming to her eyes right now. He was alive. Oliver was alive and he was coming home to her. She felt something strange, something she hadn't felt in so long that she'd almost forgotten what it felt like. She felt happy.

* * *

Ever since they'd found him, all Oliver could think about was Laurel. She was the only thing that had kept him sane his entire 5 years away, even the years he hadn't been on the island, she was the only thing that kept him going, the thought of going back to her strong enough to keep him moving and keeping him alive. And now he finally was. And he promised himself that there would be no secrets from Laurel this time. He'd tell her everything that he'd been through gradually, but he would tell her.

Anyways, right now he was currently staring out of his window in the the Chinese Hospital he'd been sent to after they found him, looking at the horizon.

He heard the door open and he turned to see his mother Moira Queen walking into his room.

"Oliver." Moira said.

"Hi mom." Oliver said as he hugged her and he felt her cry with relief into his chest.

* * *

After the limo pulled up in front of the Queen Mansion, Oliver took a crate with Chinese writing on it out himself, since he didn't want anyone else to what was in it.

He then looked up at the house that he had once thought of as home. Now it was almost a completely different place to him.

"Your room is exactly how you left it, a mess. I just didn't have the heart to change it." Moira said with a smile.

"Oliver, it's good to see you." a refined british voice said as an african american man wearing an impeccable suit walked up to him and held out his hand.

"Thank you." Oliver said, since even though this man seemed familiar to him, he couldn't place a name.

"Oliver, you remember Walter from your father's company?" Moira asked.

"Yeah and I'm guessing that now your husband is still running the company." Oliver said.

"I see you didn't entirely lose your sarcasm on the island." another voice said from the top of the stairs and Oliver looked up to see his little sister Thea standing at the top of the stairs.

"Hey sis." Oliver said.

"I knew it. I knew you were still alive." Thea said as she came downstairs and all but threw herself into Oliver's arms.

"I missed you so much." Thea then said.

"You were with me the whole time." Oliver said, right as they heard the door open and close.

Oliver turned and felt his heart start to beat at least twice as fast.

"Laurel." Oliver said.

"I didn't truly believe it until now. I can't believe you're home." Laurel said as she ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

Oliver just simply held her just as tightly as he felt her gently cry into his shoulder and he rubbed her back as Moira, Walter and Thea just smiled at the reunion, since Thea was hoping that maybe now that Oliver was back, he might be able to bring out the old Laurel again.

"Please don't leave me again." Laurel said to him.

Oliver smiled at her and said "I promise, I'm not going anywhere."

Thea, knowing what was about to happen just covered her eyes as Oliver and Laurel kissed for the first time in five years.

"You have no idea how much I missed that." Oliver said breathlessly when they pulled apart.

"I think I do." Laurel said with a small smile.

Before either of them could say anything else, another voice said "What did I tell you man, yachts suck."

"Tommy Merlyn." Oliver said to his best friend as they hugged.

"I see Laurel has already given you a welcome back." Tommy said and to his surprise, Laurel actually smiled at him.

"You could say that. Though if, your family doesn't mind, I'd kind of prefer if Oliver stayed at my apartment tonight." Laurel said.

"He's all yours. Something tells me you need him even more than we do." Moira said with a knowing smile.


	2. Chapter 2

After dinner that night, Laurel drove Oliver back to her apartment.

"Nice place you got here." Oliver said as she turned on the lights to reveal a pretty dull apartment, since the walls were untouched, the only furniture in the apartment aside from what was built in, was a couch and few chairs, along with stand that had a decent sized TV on it.

"Yeah, I just could not bring myself to decorate this place. It just did not feel like home." Laurel said.

"I'm guessing that's because you had no one to share it with." Oliver said with a smile.

"Correct. Oliver, when I thought you died, I felt like I did to. But you're back." Laurel said but Oliver interrupted her before she finish.

"That's the thing Laurel. The Oliver Queen you knew did die when the Queen's Gambit went down. I came back a different person." Oliver said.

"What do you mean?" Laurel asked.

Oliver then told her about his father's list and his promise to Robert to right his wrongs and save Starling City and how he planned to do it.

"Wow, that's a lot to take in." Laurel said.

"Yeah, well, I promised myself that if I ever came home to you, than there'd be no more secrets between us. And that includes what happened to me while I was away." Oliver said.

"So you're going to tell me everything?" Laurel asked.

"Not all at once, but yes, gradually, over time, I will tell you." Oliver said.

"Oliver, what you want to do now, you realize that it's technically murder?" Laurel said.

"That's why I'm telling you. You could always see the brightness in me Laurel, even when I couldn't see it in myself. I need you to keep me on track, but only if you want to. And I understand if you can't understand why I'm doing this, but I hope that one day you will and." Oliver said as he was cut off by Laurel's lips.

"If you'd let me get word in, I'd say that you're secret is safe with me and I think that you might just be exactly what this city needs. I'm not blinded to what's going on in the Glades." Laurel said.

"Thank you for understanding." Oliver said.

"Maybe I could even help you gather intel." Laurel said.

"Fine, but that's as far as it goes." Oliver said.

"Trust me, I don't want to engage in actual vigilantism." Laurel said.

"So, anyway, back to your apartment, you looking for a roommate?" Oliver asked.

"While I would love that, are you sure you're ready for that? I mean, you just came back from 5 years in hell. It seems kind of fast." Laurel said.

"You and I both know that we're the type of people who don't do things slowly. We like to jump straight in. And right now, the only thing I am truly sure of right now is that I spent 5 years without you and I don't ever want to go through that again. I want to see you everything morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed. Laurel, there is nothing I am more sure of right now." Oliver said.

Laurel smiled and said "In that case, we'll head up to the mansion tomorrow to get your things."

"Well in the meantime, there's one thing I've missed more than anything else and I'll give you one guess as to what it is." Oliver said with a smile.

"Let me show you to my room." Laurel said with a smile of her own.

"I think I can find my way." Oliver said as he kissed her passionately.

Laurel kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as they began to walk through the apartment until they finally made it into the bedroom.

Laurel pulled Oliver's shirt off and she was so caught up in the moment that she didn't really seem to notice all the scars on his chest. Oliver then removed her top, revealing her lace green bra and things just escalated from there.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Laurel woke up feeling the bed a bit emptier than it was when she went to bed last night. She rolled over to see that Oliver was gone and her heart immediately dropped at the sight, since it made her think that everything that had happened yesterday was just some sort of hallucination. Then she heard her door open and she had to repress a sigh of relief as Oliver came back into the room, wet from a shower and wearing a towel around his waist.

"Since when do you wake up before noon?" Laurel asked him.

"Since I learned that the time you wake up at can be the determining factor between life or death." Oliver said.

Laurel nodded as she took in all the scars on Oliver's chest.

"Ollie, those scars?" Laurel asked as he sat down on the bed.

"My souvenirs for surviving." Oliver said as he let Laurel touch his chest.

"And this tattoo?" Laurel asked.

"I'm not quite ready to talk about that yet. It's rather recent, so to speak." Oliver said.

"I can't even begin to imagine what you went through there." Laurel said.

"Trust me, it's better if you don't, you'll have nightmares." Oliver said as he kissed her forehead.

"And yet you're sure you want to tell me what happened to you?" Laurel asked.

"Not yet, but eventually, yeah. Especially if you're going to understand why I'm going to be spending my nights the way I am." Oliver said.

"Yeah, have you given it anymore thought about how exactly you're going to pull that off?" Laurel asked.

"Relax, I won't do anything that could peg you as an accomplice, including operating out of here. I've already given it some thought and I'll tell you later, but right now, why don't you bring me up to speed on what I've missed regarding our families, since I know that they left some stuff out yesterday." Oliver said.

"Well, there are somethings that you already know, like Sara joined the police force, much to dad's initial chagrin, but now she's his partner, so he's okay with it, since it's the whole father-daughter team up thing." Laurel said with a smile.

"It seems like almost the entire Lance family has dedicated their lives to saving this city. I mean your dad and sister are cops and you're a lawyer. And what about my family?" Oliver asked.

"Well you know everything that's gone on with your mother, but Thea, she fell in with a bad crowd after you died. She started drinking and using drugs, breaking laws, if anything, she's been throwing her life away." Laurel said.

"I'll talk to her about it. She had so much potential in her when I left and now I see that she's just wasting it." Oliver said.

Laurel nodded as she kissed him again.

"We should probably head back to the mansion now so I can pack my things." Oliver said.

"Good idea, though we should probably get dressed first." Laurel said.

* * *

"So, you're barely home for 24 hours and now you're moving in with Laurel. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Moira said when Oliver told her of his decision.

"Mom, I will always love you, but." Oliver said.

"You love Laurel more. Oliver, I understand, truly I do. I just don't want to lose you again." Moira said to her son.

"You're not losing me. I'm just a half hour away, give or take and I'll be over here plenty of times for dinner, while Laurel can do many things, cooking dinner is not one of them." Oliver said with a smile.

"I heard that." Laurel said as she entered the room.

"Sorry, but you know it's true." Oliver said as he wrapped his arm around Laurel's shoulders.

"I never said it wasn't." Laurel said.

"I'm still not sure how you manage to put any weight on since I seem to recall there being a lot of fast food in your diet and you rarely hit the gym." Thea said as she came downstairs.

"What can I say, I'm just lucky like that." Laurel said.

"Thea, can I talk to you for a second." Oliver said.

"Yeah sure." Thea said as she and Oliver walked off to talk in private.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Laurel told me how you've been coping the past 5 years. I have to say Speedy, I'm disappointed. I mean, I did a lot of stupid stuff I regret now when I was 17, but I never used narcotics or shoplifted. And trust me when I say that one day you're going to do something that being a Queen won't be enough to get you out of. Just think about that before you commit your next felony." Oliver said simply before he headed off to pack his things, leaving Thea to think about what he said.


	4. Chapter 4

As Oliver was finishing packing up his stuff, he heard Tommy say "What, you're home for barely a day and you're already leaving again?"

"Not that far. Just to an apartment with a very special girl." Oliver said.

"So Laurel's actually giving you a drawer? Now I'm even more jealous." Tommy said.

"Excuse me? Why exactly would it make you feel jealous?" Oliver asked.

"No reason, bye." Tommy said quickly.

"Not so fast. What did you mean?" Oliver asked.

"Okay, so after your funeral, Laurel took a downward spiral quickly. One night I found her alone in a bar, drunk off her ass, so I drove her home and well, I think you can guess what happened from there." Tommy said.

"So you and Laurel slept together and you didn't even have the courage to tell me. I had a right to know." Oliver said.

"Just like how we have a right to know what happened to you on that island?" Tommy asked.

"That's different. That is something that changed me in ways you can't even begin to imagine that haunts me every time I close my eyes. But while I don't so much mind the fact that you and Laurel slept together, whether she was drunk or not, one of you should've told me sooner." Oliver asked as Laurel entered the room.

"Tell you what?" Laurel asked.

"That you and Tommy slept together." Oliver said and Laurel glared at Tommy.

"Tommy, I thought I told you that I wanted to tell him." Laurel said.

"It slipped out." Tommy said.

"Laurel, I understand that you were grieving and thought I was dead. I'm not mad that you slept with Tommy, no matter how many times you did, since I think all 3 of us know that you're not just a one-night stand type of girl." Oliver said.

"You're not?" Laurel asked hopefully.

"No, but I am mad that you didn't tell me sooner." Oliver said, deflating her hopes.

"It's not like you were the most honest guy in our relationship." Laurel countered.

"I know that I wasn't the best person to be in a relationship with, but I was willing to be better. Laurel, were you ever really going to tell me?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, of course I was. I just wanted to give you some time to adjust to being back before I told you." Laurel said.

"You should've told me when we talked about me moving in with you." Oliver said.

"I know, but I was just so happy and I got caught up in the moment and I forgot. I'm sorry Ollie." Laurel said.

"I'm gonna go for a drive alone, try to clear my head." Oliver said as he headed out.

* * *

Oliver had just finished taking a look around his father's old steel factory and confirming that basement would make a good base of operations for what he had planned when some thugs jumped him and knocked him out.

When he came to, he found himself tied to a chair with a hood over his head, which was quickly removed to reveal blinding light, causing Oliver to have to squint to see as his eyes adjusted.

"Not even back 2 days yet and I'm being kidnapped." He said sarcastically as one of his captors zapped him with a taser, something he was aware of, not from his time away, but from the last time Laurel's dad caught him in her room.

"Enough pretty boy. So, we've got some questions for you and you're going to answer them, got it?" The thug who was obviously the leader asked.

Oliver simply spat in his face, which earned him another zap.

"First question, did your father survive the accident?" the same thug asked.

Oliver didn't say anything.

"Do you not understand how this works boy? Did your father say anything to you?" the leader asked again.

"Yes." Oliver said.

"What did he say?" the leader asked as he and his thugs all leaned in to hear.

"He told me I was going to kill all of you and you what, he was right." Oliver said.

All of the masked men laughed and one of them said "Are you delusional or something? You're tied."

Oliver simply lifted his now free arms and said "Not anymore."

Before they could react, he went into motion. He ducked a punch from his interrogator, and then flipped the chair up to block a second. He reversed the chair, sending the hard edge of the seat into the chest of the second man, then ripped out of back seat posts and spun around, staking the interrogator in the heart. For good measure, he brought the Taser up and shocked him under his jaw, sending him to the floor. He grabbed the second man and swung him around in front of his as a shield, just as the third man fired. The bullets hit the second guy in the chest killing him. Seeing that, the third bolted from the room.

However, Oliver ran after him and quickly stopped him.

"You killed those men." Oliver said to him.

"You don't have to do this." the masked man said.

"Yes I do. No one can know my secret." Oliver said as he snapped the man's neck.


	5. Chapter 5

As Laurel was entering the Queen Mansion, she found that her father and sister were now leaving it.

"Laurel." Quentin said.

"How is he dad?" Laurel asked.

"Black eye, maybe a few busted ribs, but all-in-all, not horrible." Quentin said.

"I guess that after 5 years on an island, a kidnapping is just a run of the mill day." Sara snarked.

Laurel glared at her sister before saying "He chose me, now grow up and do your job properly. Did he have any information about his abductors?"

"Laurel, you know we can't disclose that kind of information, even to a lawyer." Quentin said regretfully.

Laurel nodded in understanding as her father kissed her cheek before he and Sara left and she headed into the house.

* * *

"Oliver." Laurel said, hugging him.

"Hey, I'm fine." Oliver assured her as he hugged her.

"You should never have been in that area alone. What were you even doing down there?" Laurel asked.

"It turns out it took a drive all the way down to my father's old steel factory for me to clear my head." Oliver said.

"And?" Laurel asked.

"And I realized that no matter what happens, I want to have you by my side." Oliver said.

"So does that mean you still want to move in with me?" Laurel asked hopefully.

"Yes. I actually don't think I ever said I didn't I just said I needed to clear my head. Especially since you pointed out that I wasn't exactly the best boyfriend to you." Oliver said.

Laurel smiled as they kissed.

"So what was the real reason you were at the factory?" Laurel asked.

"I'll tell you later when there aren't as many prying eyes and listening ears around." Oliver promised her and Laurel nodded.

"I guess we should finish packing, since while I got most of my most of my stuff packed before Tommy dropped that bomb on me, but I still have a few things left in my old room I need to do. Want to help?" Oliver asked her.

"Is that really your way of subtly asking me to have sex?" Laurel asked with a smile.

"Well, technically we did just finish having a fight, so make up sex would not be inappropriate." Oliver said.

"Works for me. Besides, this will probably be our last chance to do anything like that here until you inherit this place." Laurel said.

"Yeah, so let's go." Oliver said

Laurel just smiled as they got up and headed upstairs.

* * *

That night, Oliver and Laurel had just finally finished getting all of Oliver's stuff unloaded into Laurel's apartment.

"Hey, what exactly is in here?" Laurel asked, referring to the crate with the chinese writing on it.

"I'll show you." Oliver said as he opened the container and revealed that it contained a rock, a small black leather book, and a green suit.

"Where did you get these?" Laurel asked as she held up the book.

"I pulled that book from my father's corpse." Oliver said.

"What? I thought you said your father died when the Gambit went down?" Laurel asked.

"That's not entirely true. When the yacht went down, dad and I both made it to a lifeboat, along with a crew member. We drifted for days, maybe weeks, I don't know. Then one day my dad pulled out a revolver and shot the crew member right in front of me. Then he told me that he wasn't the man I thought he was and to right his wrongs if I survived, right before he shot himself in the head." Oliver said as Laurel covered her mouth in horror.

"Why didn't you tell your mom and Thea?" Laurel asked.

"Trust me when I say they're better off not knowing that. I don't want to ruin their memory of dad." Oliver said.

"I guess I can understand that, but where did you find this suit?" Laurel asked.

"Let's just say I was not alone the entire time I was gone." Oliver said.

"You keep saying you were gone, not on the island. What aren't you telling me?" Laurel asked.

"Plenty. And some of it I'm not allowed to talk about." Oliver said, making it clear that the conversation was done and Laurel backed off, understanding that Oliver wasn't in the mood to talk about it anymore.

"Well are you at least going to tell me why you were in the Glades earlier?" Laurel asked.

"I was trying to find a suitable base of operations. I did and I've also decided I want to open a nightclub." Oliver said.

"Why?" Laurel asked.

"I need to provide a cover as to why I'll be down at my father's steel factory every night and turning it into a nightclub seems like a viable idea." Oliver said.

"You're a lot smarter than people give you credit for." Laurel said.

"I know." Oliver said as he kissed her.

"So, are you going to go out tonight?" Laurel asked.

"No, tonight I unpack and it's gonna take some time to get all the wheels turning, but soon, I'll be up and running." Oliver said.

"Okay then, we better get started on unpacking then." Laurel said.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Oliver and Laurel went up to the mansion for lunch, since Moira had invited them up for a family lunch, since she even considered Laurel family, though Oliver suspected that it was because she knew that no Laurel most likely meant no Oliver.

Anyways, when they arrived, Oliver was surprised to see his mother standing with a tall dark skinned man wearing a suit.

"Hi mom, who is this?" Oliver asked.

"Oliver, I'd like you to meet your new bodyguard, John Diggle." Moira said and Oliver cursed in his mind, since a bodyguard would definitely complicate his plans.

"Pleasure to meet you." Laurel said, holding out her hand for John to shake which he did.

"You to ma'am, I get the feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other." John said.

Oliver then held out his own hand, which Diggle shook as well.

"No offense, but mom, I don't think I need a bodyguard." Oliver said.

"Oliver, you were kidnapped after being home for less than 48 hours. You need this." Moira said, though Oliver could tell that this was more for her benefit than his. She just got him back.

Oliver nodded in understanding before turning back to Diggle and saying "So... what do I call you?"

"Diggle's good." He said. "Dig if you want."

"You're ex-military?"

"Yes, sir." He replied. "105th Airborne out of Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than four years now." Diggle said, causing Oliver to reevaluate to his thoughts of Mr. Diggle, since he'd met someone with similar credentials before and thought that maybe having him around wasn't such as bad idea after all.

"Pleasure to meet you Dig." Oliver said.

""I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement sir?" Diggle asked.

"Call me Oliver please. Sir seems way too serious and makes me feel old." Oliver said with a smile.

Dig actually cracked a small smile at him before saying "Do we have an agreement, Oliver?"

"We do, though I can't promise you I'll make your job easy for you." Oliver said as Laurel smiled at her boyfriend's jokes.

"Well then, I know this will be interesting." Dig said, right as Raisa entered.

"Lunch is ready. Ms. Thea and Mr. Steele are already in the dining room, as is Tommy Merlyn." Raisa said.

"Thank you Raisa." Moira said as she, Oliver and Laurel headed towards the dining room.

* * *

"So, have you given it any thought yet?" Tommy asked Oliver as they ate.

"What?" Oliver asked, confused.

"You're welcome home party. I mean you came back from the dead, that's cause for celebration." Tommy said.

"I think that's a great idea." Thea said.

"Yeah, and if it happens, I'm going to make sure that every bouncer there is told not to let you in and given your picture." Oliver said to her.

"Mom." Thea said.

"Thea, Oliver's right, if hear that you're anywhere near that party, you'll be grounded for so long that they'll be throwing you a welcome back party by the time you're ungrounded." Walter said.

"Seriously?" Thea asked, shocked, since she'd never had anyone say something like that to her before.

"But anyways, Oliver, we are having a party right? Just give me a time and place I'll handle the rest." Tommy said.

"Since I know you won't stop bugging me about it until I say yes, fine, we'll have a party." Oliver said.

* * *

"Oliver, maybe having Diggle around won't be so bad after all. I mean it might be useful to have someone with actual military contacts helping you." Laurel said to him after lunch while they waited for Diggle to bring the car around.

"I was thinking along those lines to, but I need to do more research on this guy before I decide whether or not to bring him in." Oliver said.

"And how are you going to do that? I mean, I'm pretty that his military records are classified." Laurel said.

"I have ways of finding information." Oliver assured her as Diggle pulled up with the car.

* * *

"So, how did a war hero like you end up running private security, if you don't mind my asking?" Oliver asked Dig as he and Laurel sat in the back seat as Diggle drove.

"It's no problem Oliver. My brother Andy hooked me up with this gig after I returned to the states. I didn't think I'd like it, but it turns out it's not that bad." Diggle said.

"Nice story, sounds like your brother's a good guy." Oliver said.

"Was a good guy. He was killed on the job a few years ago." Diggle said.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss." Oliver said sympathetically, since he knew how it felt to lose a family member.

"Thank you Mr. Queen." Diggle said.


	7. Chapter 7

A few days later was Oliver's welcome home party, which was also the same night that Adam Hunt received a visit from the Arrow and Laurel was now fielding calls from clients against Mr. Hunt saying that the money he stole from them had been magically returned, though Laurel knew the truth.

Oliver then spent the next few months opening up the basement of the factory/future nightclub and turning it into his base of operations and he'd also crossed off several other names from his father's list, including Martin Sommers, James Holder, Jason Brodeur and Leo Mueller, with Laurel providing him with whatever help she could from her position as a lawyer and as his girlfriend, often serving as his moral compass, keeping him from letting himself go too far into the darkness and he slowly began to reveal more and more of what happened to him while he was gone.

* * *

Anyways, right now Laurel was at work at CNRI, so Oliver decided to take this time alone in their apartment to make a certain phone call with someone who could tell him whether John Diggle can be trusted to be brought into the fold.

"Who is this?" a female voice said on the other side of the call.

"Hello Waller, it's Oliver Queen." Oliver said.

"How did you get this number?" Amanda Waller asked.

"I need you to put me contact with Lyla Michaels. Her ex is my bodyguard and I need her take on his trustworthiness." Oliver said, ignoring Waller's question.

"And why should I do anything for you?" Waller asked.

"Because you owe me 2 favors. One for Hong Kong, one for Reiter. Getting me in contact with Michaels will take care of one those." Oliver reminded her.

"Fine." Waller said.

Oliver waited for a few moments until a new voice spoke over the call.

"This is Lyla Michaels. Who is this?" Lyla asked.

"My name is Oliver Queen. I'm sure that as Amanda Waller's second in command you know what my plans are?" Oliver asked.

"Of course." Lyla said.

"Well my mother has actually hired John Diggle to be my bodyguard and since I know you 2 have a history, don't ask how I know that, I thought I'd get your take on him and see if he'd be an issue?" Oliver asked.

"Johnny's a little headstrong, but his heart in the right place. I actually think bringing him in is a good idea considering how useful his army contacts can be." Lyla said.

"I was thinking along those lines to, but can he be trusted to keep this a secret?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, though after you tell him, you should probably give him some time to adjust and understand why you're doing what you're doing." Lyla said.

"Thank you and tell Waller she now only owes me one favor." Oliver said as his phone beeped signalling that he was getting another call.

"Hello." Oliver said as he answered the call and after a few minutes of listening, he said "I'm on my way."

* * *

"Laurel, what happened?" Oliver asked as he arrived at the precinct to see his girlfriend with bruises on her face as she sat down in front of her father's desk.

"I was walking out from CNRI to my car when thug mugged me. He took my purse, my wallet, my phone and my laptop." Laurel said.

"What was in the purse?" Quentin asked.

"Some chap stick and makeup, my wallet, which had about $200 cash, all my credit cards and my driver's license in it, my phone, and my car keys, which they then used to steal my car." Laurel said.

"Did you get a good look at the guy?" Quentin asked.

"No, he was wearing a mask." Laurel said, right as Sara walked in.

"We tried tracking both the car and the phone's gps, but nothing, and we've also tried tracking the credit cards, but no luck." Sara said.

"I better cancel those cards before that son of a bitch leaves me broke." Laurel said.

"Here, you can call on the drive home and we'll talk to the insurance people about replacing your car and I'll buy you a new phone tomorrow." Oliver said, handing her his phone.

"Thanks." Laurel said.

"Well, we've got everything we can, so you can go now." Quentin said.

"Thanks dad." Laurel said.

"I'll make sure she gets home safely." Oliver assured him.

"Thank you Oliver and we'll call if we find the perp." Quentin said.

Oliver nodded as they shook hands.

* * *

"You were quiet the whole ride home. What's up?" Oliver asked.

"I was thinking about how easily that mugger beat me up and took my things. And I realize that everything you've done since you got back is so brave and daring." Laurel said.

"So?" Oliver asked.

"I don't just want to help you from behind the scenes anymore. I want to help you in the field. I want you to train to me fight as well as you do." Laurel said.

"Laurel, that's not something I'd recommend. It took me 5 years to go from being a billionaire playboy to what I am today." Oliver said.

"A hero?" Laurel asked.

"A vigilante. Starling City has been infected by a plague. I'm the cure." Oliver said.

"But Oliver you can't do this alone. One man might be able to save a building, but it takes a team to save a city." Laurel said.

"You really want to do this?" Oliver asked.

"I don't anyone to be able to push me around again." Laurel said.

"Then I guess we're doing this and we'll also be bringing Mr. Diggle into the fold." Oliver said.

"Really?" Laurel asked.

"Yeah. Now you need to start thinking of a code name." Oliver said.

"And my own costume." Laurel said.

Oliver smiled at her, thinking that it was adorable that she thought she was going out in the field with him any time soon.


	8. Chapter 8

"I see the lair is coming along nicely." Laurel said as she entered the basement.

"You made sure no one saw you punch in the code?" Oliver asked.

"Relax, no one saw me, though considering how many hot and sweaty construction guys you have working out front, you might want to consider putting in a side entrance." Laurel said.

"Did you really just call those construction workers hot in front of your arrow shooting boyfriend?" Oliver asked.

Laurel smiled and said "Relax, I'm a one man kind of girl, especially when that man is a hero."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not a hero. I'm just a guy doing what needs to be done." Oliver said.

"You're saving lives and making this city a better place Ollie, I think that's the definition of being a hero. You're just not the traditional type of hero." Laurel said.

"Agree to disagree." Oliver said.

"Fair enough. But anyway, when do we start my training?" Laurel asked.

"As soon as you change into more appropriate clothes than a suit. Did you really come here dressed for court?" Oliver asked incredulously.

"Of course not, but I thought that wearing yoga pants and a sports bra might draw some unwanted attention." Laurel said.

"You can go change and then we begin." Oliver said.

Laurel nodded as she headed towards the changing area Oliver had set up in the lair.

When she came back out, she was wearing tight black yoga pants and a deep blue sports bra.

"So, are we doing this or what?" Laurel asked.

"Yep. Catch." Oliver said, tossing her a metal staff.

"What's this?" Laurel asked.

"Something tells me that you'll be a bit more skilled in melee combat, so we're training with these." Oliver said.

"Okay, but I thought you only used arrows?" Laurel asked.

"I do, but I never said I only know how to use arrows." Oliver said as he swung at her and hit her arm.

"Ow, what the hell?" Laurel asked.

"Sorry Laurel, but if you want me to train you, this is what it looks like. I'm not your boyfriend, I'm your teacher." Oliver said.

"Seriously?" Laurel asked.

"This is how I was taught. My teacher was my friend, but when he was training me, he was my opponent. That's the only way this works. It created a survival instinct in me that created my willingness to do whatever it took to survive, including kill. If you're going out into the field, than you need to have that very same instinct." Oliver said.

"Okay, I guess." Laurel said.

"Just relax your mind, don't think about what you're doing, just let instinct take over." Oliver said as he swung at her again, but this time she caught the stick with her own.

"Like that?" Laurel asked.

"Don't get cocky. Out there, you get overconfident, you get a bullet in the head." Oliver said as they continued to spar.

They continued to spar for a few minutes before Oliver knocked Laurel down to the ground.

He raised his stick like he was going in for the final strike, when Laurel screamed and something unearthly happened.

Laurel's scream emitted a supersonic sound that actually sent Oliver flying to the other side of the room.

"What the hell was that?" Oliver asked.

"I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that I feel different. As if something inside of me was just activated." Laurel said.

"Well, this certainly complicates things." Oliver said, thinking that whatever was going on with Laurel right now could get her into trouble with the wrong people, particularly, Amanda Waller.

"Yeah, although, you can't deny that it is kind of cool and could come in handy." Laurel said.

"I never said it wasn't, but Laurel, we need to figure out how the hell this happened and how you can control it. I mean, this is uncharted territory, even for me and I've met a guy who literally suck the life out of people by touching them." Oliver said.

"Seriously?" Laurel asked.

"Year 4 while I was gone. Let's just say that was the year I learned that nothing is impossible. Not even magic." Oliver said.

"Okay I'm not even going to ask." Laurel said.

"Good, you don't want to know." Oliver said.

"Anyways, back on the subject of this ability, I think I know someone who can help. I have a friend in Central City from back in law school. She's a scientist that I trust and I think she might be able to help us get some answers. She works at the Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories or S.T.A.R. Labs for short." Laurel said.

"Okay, I guess we're going to Central City for a few days. What's your friend's name?" Oliver asked.

"Dr. Caitlin Snow." Laurel said.


	9. Chapter 9

Since he wasn't sure how long he and Laurel would be in Central City, Oliver finally decided to tell Diggle the truth, and just as Lyla had predicted, while Diggle had assured him that his secret was safe with him, he could not be a part of what he and Laurel were doing and handed in his resignation, though Oliver was certain that he'd eventually come around.

Anyways, now Oliver and Laurel were sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for Laurel's friend to show up.

"Here you go." a cute waitress who looked about Laurel's age said as she served them their coffee.

"Thank you." Oliver said.

"You're welcome. If you need anything else, my name is Iris." the woman said as she walked off.

"You better not be getting any ideas." Laurel said.

"Relax, I told you I'm a changed man and I've only got my eyes on one girl, you." Oliver assured her as a brunette woman walked up to them.

"Hey Caitlin." Laurel said as she hugged her old friend.

"Laurel Lance, it's been far too long." Caitlin said.

"I know. This is my boyfriend Oliver Queen." Laurel said, introducing them.

"Nice to meet you." Caitlin said as she and Oliver shook hands.

"You to." Oliver said.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Caitlin asked.

"Is there somewhere more private we could discuss this?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, sure, my apartment isn't too far from here." Caitlin said.

"I'm not sure that's a good place, considering the thing I called you about is rather destructive." Laurel said.

"Well, we could go to S.T.A.R. Labs. I have colleague, there, Cisco Ramon, he's like the Albert Einstein of his time, he might be able to provide some help." Caitlin said.

"And you trust him to keep what we're talking about a secret?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, I do." Caitlin said.

"Fine, but only him." Oliver agreed.

* * *

After they'd met Cisco, he and Caitlin showed them an old testing facility at STAR Labs.

"So, what exactly is going on that merits this much secrecy?" Caitlin asked.

"First off, you guys have heard of the Starling City Vigilante right?" Oliver asked.

"The Arrow, yeah, what about him?" Cisco asked.

"He showed up around the same time I came back from 5 years of hell, if you guys are as smart as Laurel says, put it together." Oliver said.

"You're the Arrow." Caitlin said.

"Yes he is and that's actually not why we came here. The reason we came here was because Oliver is actually training me to help him and while we doing that, I discovered that I can do something that's not natural." Laurel said.

"Do what?" Cisco asked.

"You might want to take a step back and cover your ears." Oliver recommended as he did just that and Caitlin and Cisco did the same.

Laurel took a deep breath before letting loose her sonic cry.

"OW! THAT HURT MY EARS!" Cisco shouted.

"It'll wear off in a few minutes." Laurel said.

"WHAT?" Caitlin asked.

Laurel waited a few minutes for their hearing to fully return before beginning the conversation.

"That is awesome." Cisco said.

"Yeah, but it's also kind of freaking me out, since I have no idea how I got this ability in the first place." Laurel said.

"Well, we are more than happy to help you. But I think this is something that we should work on back in Starling City, since considering how long it could take, we don't want to raise suspicion." Cisco said.

"But don't you guys have work here?" Laurel asked.

"Actually the reason I recommended Cisco is because we both just lost our jobs at STAR Labs. Apparently Dr. Wells is okay with risking the population, since Cisco and I discovered a possible flaw in the particle accelerator that STAR labs in building and when we confronted him about this, he fired us." Caitlin said.

"Well, he'll regret he did, since I'm sure Queen Consolidated would be happy to bring people of your talents into the new Robert Queen Applied Sciences wing." Oliver said.

"Are you offering us jobs?" Caitlin asked.

"Technically no, since I can't legally do that, but I can put in a good word for you with my stepfather, since he is the CEO." Oliver said.

"Thank you." Cisco said.

"No problem. It's the least we can do considering you're willing to help us out." Laurel said.

"Can we even join your team? I mean, it wouldn't hurt to have both an actual doctor and a tech genius helping you out." Cisco said.

Oliver laughed before saying "Why do you think I told you I'm the Arrow. Yes, since I agree with you that you both have skills that could prove to be valuable additions to the team."


	10. Chapter 10

Both Cisco and Caitlin were hired by Walter the moment he saw their resumes, since he agreed with Oliver that their skills would be an invaluable addition to the Applied Sciences division, Cisco working in the tech division, to which his exact words were "This place is so dope", to which his supervisor simply laughed and agreed with him, since the technology Cisco saw here made Star Labs and it's particle accelerator look like a joke, and Caitlin was working the biochemistry division, where she had access to the latest tech in the industry.

The next night, Caitlin and Cisco met up with Oliver and Laurel at Verdant, which was still under construction.

"Oliver, thank you so much for hooking us up with this gig man." Cisco said.

"My pleasure. Now, why don't I show you where all the magic happens." Oliver said, leading the way towards the door that led down to the lair.

"This is your base of operations?" Cisco asked after Oliver showed them.

"It's not much, but it does the trick." Oliver said.

"Well, I am mourning the death of secret lairs right now. Fortunately, I think I can make this place a lot better." Cisco said.

"How?" Laurel asked.

"I can make some upgrades, turn this old basement into a real secret lair, if you're okay with that." Cisco said.

"Do it, just try not to draw too much attention to the fact that this is a secret base." Oliver said.

"Consider it done." Cisco said, right as John Diggle entered the lair.

"So, Diggle, what brings you by?" Oliver asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that after giving it a lot of thought, if that offer to join you is still good, I'd like to take you up on it." John said and Oliver smiled.

"Welcome to the team. I assume that means you'll be resuming your duties as my bodyguard?" Oliver asked.

"Yes sir." John said.

"Didn't I tell you to call me Oliver?" Oliver asked with a smile as he held out his held, which Diggle shook.

"So, who are the new kids?" Diggle asked.

"John Diggle, meet Dr. Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon. They're here to provide tech support and scientific expertise." Oliver said.

"Such as helping Laurel understand her powers." Diggle said and Laurel nodded.

"Speaking of which, I can't really train with my powers under a nightclub, so what are we going do about that?" Laurel asked.

"One step ahead of you. There's an old airstrip outside Starling that now belongs to Queen Consolidated. I figured it would be the perfect place for you to test your powers." Oliver said.

"Good call." Laurel said.

"Why don't we head out there now so we can see just how powerful you are." Cisco said.

"Let's go." Laurel said.

"Great, though I actually have to make a stop at the manor to deal with some stuff regarding my father's will, so, I'll meet you up there." Oliver said.

"Yeah sure. Tell Thea I said hi." Laurel said.

"Will do." Oliver said as he grabbed his coat and headed out.

* * *

"Thank you for joining us Mr. Queen." Ned Foster said as Oliver joined him and Thea in the living room of the manor.

"No problem." Oliver asked.

"Quick question, why did we wait until now to have dad's will read and not when Oliver first came back?" Thea asked.

"Because I couldn't take whatever dad had left until I was legally resurrected and then with all the craziness that's been going on, well, today was the first free day I've had so, let's hear it." Oliver said and Ned nodded.

"Ok well, your mother has already accepted the assets left to her by your father, but considering what he left her compared to what he left you, it would seem that your father cared more for the both of you than your own mother." Ned said.

"And what exactly has he left us?" Thea asked.

"First to Oliver. I Robert Queen, being of sound mind and body hereby leave to my son, Oliver Jonas Queen, my company Queen Consolidated where he may either take over the company as the CEO himself if that is what he wishes, or he may select someone else to run the company if he decides that he is not cut out for that lifestyle, along 50% of the shares the Queen family holds in Queen Consolidated, all of which could be sold for hundreds, if not millions of dollars if that is what he wishes to do, though that may not be necessary due to the trust fund I am leaving him, separate from the family funds and funds that he will be able to access as soon as he is of legal age." Ned said as he read off a few other things that Robert had left him.

"How much is in this trust fund?" Oliver asked.

"Do you remember the years of Queen Consolidated where your family did not seem to making money?" Ned asked.

"Yes why?" Oliver asked.

"That time was actually one of QC's most profitable junctions, but Robert put that money into 2 trust funds he had secretly created for you and Thea. Both of them contain about the same amount, roughly about 50 million dollars apiece and they have been collecting interest ever since, only growing larger. Here is the account number." Ned said, handing Oliver a piece of paper.

"So what about me?" Thea asked.

Ned smiled and said "I Robert Queen, being of sound mind and body, hereby leave to my beloved daughter Thea Dearden Queen," Thea's face soured at the sound of her middle name that she'd always hated, "30% of the shares our family has in Queen Consolidated, all of which could be sold for hundreds, if not millions of dollars if that is what she wishes to do, though that may not be necessary due to the trust fund I am leaving her, which is just as large as her brothers and she will be able to access when she is of legal age. I am also leaving Thea with the deed to our dude ranch in the outskirts of Starling City, since I can still remember how much she used to love riding horses and how much her face would light up every time her horse jumped a hurdle. I hope that she will one day use this to rediscover that love if she chooses to."

Thea had tears in her eyes, since she hadn't thought about that ranch in years and it had been one of her favorite places in the world when she was a little kid.

"Ms. Queen, your father also specified that I was to give you this folder in the event of his death, though your mother was very much against it." Ned said, handing Thea a manilla folder.

"What is it?" Thea asked.

"Open it and find out." Oliver suggested and Thea nodded and opened the file right as she felt as though her world had been turned upside down.

"Thea, what is it?" Oliver asked.

Thea simply handed Oliver the papers, too stunned to speak.

Oliver looked at them and was surprised to see that they were adoption papers. Thea's adoption papers to be precise.


	11. Chapter 11

"I can't believe it. All this time I thought I was a Queen. That my parents actually wanted me. But now I find out that my whole has been one big lie. My birth parents never wanted me. They gave me up for adoption and then I lucked out and got adopted by the Queen family. And then they never told me." Thea said.

"Thea, dad loved you regardless of whether or not he was your biological father. And I will always love you, that is something that will never change, not even by the fact that you aren't my birth sister. You will always be Speedy." Oliver said with a smile.

"But what about mom? She was always colder to me than you and now it makes sense. I wasn't her birth child, so she didn't love me as much." Thea said coldly.

"Thea, what is really bothering you about mom?" Oliver asked.

"Why didn't she want me to know? I mean it sounds like dad wanted to tell me, but she wouldn't let him. Why?" Thea asked.

"I don't know. But I think that you need to confront her about this or else it'll just eat you up inside. It's the only way you'll ever get answers. I have to go, but I promise I'll check in later." Oliver said and Thea nodded as Oliver walked out.

* * *

"So, look who finally made it?" Laurel said to her boyfriend as he finally entered the hangar they'd setup to test Laurel's powers.

"Sorry, things got complicated at the will reading." Oliver said.

"Complicated how?" Laurel asked.

"It turns out that Thea's adopted. She's still processing it right now." Oliver said.

"Wow, that's big." Laurel said.

"Yeah, she's going to talk to my mom about it, find out why exactly she didn't know sooner, I promised I'd check in with her a little later, but anyways, how's your training going?" Oliver asked.

"Well, it turns I can do more than just produce a sonic scream." Laurel said.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"Cisco, are the dummies set up?" Laurel asked.

"Yes and hopefully they should be able to withstand the blast a bit better now, you ready for another test." Cisco said.

"Yeah." Laurel said.

"Okay then, just remember, we all need to be able to hear after this." Cisco said.

"No promises." Laurel said as she took a ready position took a deep breath.

However, to Oliver's surprise, rather than let loose her sonic cry, Laurel held out her fists and blasted bursts of sonic energy out of them, just as loud as her cry, but these were harder to control.

"So you can produce sonic bursts from your hands to?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, but those are harder to control." Laurel said.

"I think I may be able to solve that problem." Cisco said.

"How?" Laurel asked.

"It's really techy and if I tried to explain it, you'd probably just end up looking at me like I was speaking another language." Cisco said.

"I can't argue with that. Just do it. The sooner Laurel is able to control her powers, the better. Especially that scream." Oliver said.

"Call." Laurel said.

"Excuse me?" Oliver asked.

"A call. That call, is like a canary. Loud and unforgettable. Maybe we could call this ability the Canary Call." Laurel said.

"How about the Canary Cry instead." Cisco said.

"I like that." Laurel said.

"So what, is your codename going to be the Canary then?" Oliver asked.

"No. The Black Canary." Laurel said.

"It's got a nice ring to it, I'll give it that." Oliver said.

"I like it. I'll get to work on your suit and the tech." Cisco said.

"Great. Now we need to get home. I mean it's getting late." Oliver said and Laurel nodded.

* * *

When Oliver and Laurel got home, they were surprised to find Thea waiting for them on their couch, a suitcase next to her.

"Thea, are you okay?" Oliver asked.

"I talked to mom and it turns that reason she didn't tell me about my adoption is that she didn't want me. Dad adopted me behind her back. That's why she was so cold to me in the beginning. Because she didn't want some street brat contaminating her beloved Ollie. She didn't want a daughter to love. She never wanted me." Thea said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Thea, that's awful." Oliver said, crouching down to Thea's level.

"Can I stay here with you guys for awhile. I can't live under the same roof as her anymore." Thea said.

"Do you mind sleeping on the couch, I mean we only have one bedroom." Laurel said.

"Sure." Thea said.

"Then yeah, welcome home I guess." Oliver said as he hugged his sister.


	12. Chapter 12

"Sara, are you okay?" Quentin asked his daughter/partner.

"No dad. It's been months since he first emerged and yet we are no closer to finding the Arrow then we were when he first became active. I mean I know that the Oliver Queen lead ran dry when the Arrow was spotted acting while he was under house arrest, but there has to be some other trail that will track him down." Sara said.

"Sara, while I understand your drive to catch the guy, you can't deny that what he's doing isn't making a difference. I mean, there are people in this city who would be in far worse shape if not for him." Quentin said.

"Dad, you always taught me and Laurel that the law is the way to justice. That's why Laurel became a lawyer and I became a cop. Because we both wanted to see justice done. But what this guy does isn't justice, it's vigilantism and it's illegal and I will bring him down, even if I have to do it alone." Sara said.

"Yeah well, you can do that tomorrow, your shift is over and we have to get to Laurel's remember, don't you remember she and Oliver invited over for dinner." Quentin said.

"You go, I'll catch up with you later. Right now I'm too focused on bringing the vigilante down." Sara said.

"Aw, that's so cute how you think you have a choice. Your shift is over. It's time to go home." Quentin said, making it clear that she was going, even if he had to handcuff her and throw her in the back of his car.

"Fine." Sara said as she logged out of her computer and got out from behind her desk.

"Good, now let's go." Quentin said with a smile.

* * *

Laurel was helping Thea study for her midterms when there was a knock on the door.

"It's open." Laurel called out.

The door opened to reveal her sister and father as they entered.

"Hey. " Laurel said, hugging her father and then Sara.

"Hey, Thea, what are you doing here with textbooks?" Quentin asked.

"Didn't Laurel tell you? I had a falling out with my mom, so I'm staying with Oliver and Laurel now." Thea said.

"Well then, looks like you might actually be around a good influence after all." Quentin said with a laugh, which Thea joined him with, since he had no idea.

"Speaking of Oliver, where is he?" Sara asked.

"Oh he got held up at the club, apparently the construction is taking longer than anticipated." Laurel said.

"You know I never thought that Oliver Queen would go from being the guy who threw money in clubs to being the guy who caught it." Quentin said.

"Well dad, he's really matured since he got back. I mean, he's owning his own business, he and I have never been better, he's being a better influence on Thea, who has definitely turned her life around since he came home." Laurel said.

"Before I forget, we brought wine." Sara said.

"Recovering alcoholic remember?" Laurel asked since she'd hit the bottle hard after Oliver had disappeared and after she'd hit rock bottom, her father had forced her to go to AA meetings, which had actually helped her learn to deal with her grief outside of a bottle.

"I never said it was for you." Sara said with a smile as Oliver walked through the door.

"I brought dinner." Oliver said.

"Thank god. I mean Laurel, I love you to death, but you cannot cook to save your life." Sara said.

"I know, I have heard numerous complaints about my cooking over the past few days." Laurel said.

"I can't help it if the only thing you can cook is Mac and Cheese. I swear Ollie's a better cook than you." Thea said.

"You can cook?" Quentin asked.

"Well I mean, I didn't really get serious about learning until after I moved in with Laurel since I didn't solely want to be living on Mac and Cheese and take out, but yeah, back before my life got complicated, when Laurel when spend nights at the mansion and got treated to breakfast in bed, Raisa wasn't the one who entirely cooked it, I tended to slip out undetected and I helped her make Laurel breakfast, so yeah, I guess you could say I can cook." Oliver said.

"Does Ollie still treat you to breakfast in bed?" Sara asked.

"Every Saturday morning. It feels like my birthday every week." Laurel said.

"You've really become a decent human being Oliver." Quentin said.

"Way to ruin the mood dad." Laurel said.

"No, he's right. Back before the island, I took a lot of things for granted, including you Laurel. But now I realize just how lucky I am to have you in my life. And that is why you get breakfast in bed every Saturday. It's just my way of letting you know that I do appreciate having you in my life." Oliver said.

Laurel smiled as she kissed his cheek.

"So, how's the nightclub coming?" Sara asked, changing the topic.

"Slow. I'm still looking for a manager, since I can't always be there to run things and the bar is still under construction, so yeah, it's a good thing that between my inheritance and Laurel's job, money is not that much of an issue." Oliver said.

* * *

While the dinner was going on, the 5 people inside had no idea that a bunch of thugs from the Chinese Triad were currently watching them from across the street.

"Why don't we just attack them all now? Kill them?" One of the thugs asked.

"Are you mad, we try and go in there now while there are 2 police detectives in there and we'll be overrun by badges in a 2 minutes tops. No, we wait until after the cops have left and then we kill the Lance girl that's been causing so much trouble for the Mr. Sommers since he got out of prison, along with the 2 Queen brats. Especially the boy. I hear that the Triad top boss is willing to pay a high sum for Oliver Queen's head." the leader said.

"Boss, it looks like the cops are leaving now." another thug said he continued to look through the scope of his rifle.

"The moment their car is out of sight, we move in." the boss said.

* * *

Oliver and Laurel were clearing away dishes while Thea went back to studying in the living room when suddenly bullets pierced the windows.

"Thea get down." Oliver said as he knocked his sister off the couch and onto the floor.

"Laurel, get Thea into our room, now." Oliver said, right as the thugs broke into the apartment.

"Ollie, we'll never make it without getting shot." Laurel said, since while either she or Oliver could handle these guys, they couldn't do it without revealing their identities to Thea. However, Oliver would rather have his sister know the truth about him than have her be dead.

"Do it now." Oliver said.

"What? Are you serious. In front of Thea?" Laurel asked.

"It's either that or we all die and speaking from experience, I'd rather stay alive." Oliver said.

Laurel nodded before looking at Thea and saying "You might want to cover your ears Speedy."

"What?" Thea asked confused as Laurel took a deep breath and let her Canary cry loose, sending all the thugs flying backwards and letting Oliver get to where he kept their butcher knives and as the enemies regained their balance, he made short work of them.

"What the hell? Thea asked, right before she fainted.


	13. Chapter 13

After talking with police, Oliver called John, Cisco and Caitlin and told them all to meet him and Laurel at the lair. It was clear that they had a lot of explaining to do.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Laurel asked Oliver as they drove to Verdant.

"I need to get Thea to understand. Even if it means destroying her memory of dad and her faith in me. She's been lied to enough over the years." Oliver said.

"I'm just making sure since once you open that lid, it can't be reclosed. Are you sure you want Thea to know everything?" Laurel asked.

"Not what I went through while I was gone, that is something I think should just stay between you and me." Oliver said and Laurel nodded as they pulled into the Verdant lot.

"C'mon, help me get her inside before we draw more attention to ourselves." Oliver said and Laurel nodded as they got out of the car and pulled a still unconscious Thea out of the backseat.

* * *

When Thea came to, she found herself lying on a cold, hard table.

"Where the hell am I?" Thea asked.

"Someplace safe." Oliver said as he walked next to her and helped her sit up.

"Take it easy, you suffered a minor concussion when you passed out." Oliver said as more people came into Thea's line of view.

"What's going on?" Thea asked.

"What's going on Thea is that earlier tonight you saw some things that are difficult for you to comprehend, so we brought you here to help explain it." Laurel said.

"Laurel, your scream, how did you do that?" Thea asked.

"I have no idea, but I've been able to do it for a few weeks now. Oliver and Caitlin have been trying to help me understand it." Laurel said as Thea got her full bearings back and she noticed the display case.

"It all makes sense now. Why you and Laurel have been sneaking around and keeping secrets ever since I moved in with you guys. You're him, aren't you Ollie. You're the Arrow?" Thea asked, looking towards her brother.

"Yes, I am." Oliver said.

"What happened to you?" Thea asked.

"To say a lot would be an understatement but Speedy, the reason I didn't tell you about this was that I didn't want you to get involved. I wanted you to live a happy normal life, but I guess that's impossible now." Oliver said.

"No, I actually understand why you decided to keep this a secret from me, you were trying to protect me. That I can understand." Thea said.

"So you're not mad at me?" Oliver asked.

"How can I be mad at someone who's doing so much good right now. I mean so many people have benefited from you've done as the Arrow. But why are Laurel and these other people here?" Thea asked.

"Laurel was the first person to know. When I came back, I told her that I didn't want there to be any more secrets between us and I meant it. Now I'm currently training her to help me. Diggle was the next person who learned the truth and he's also going out into the action with me, along with being our military contact, Caitlin is our medical examiner, she's been working with Laurel to try and figure out how Laurel got her powers and Cisco is, for lack of a better word, tech support." Oliver said.

"You forgot someone else." Thea said.

"Absolutely not." Oliver said.

"Come on, you're letting Laurel take these risks and she's just as new to this world as I am." Thea protested.

"Maybe so, but Laurel has powers that give her an advantage in the field while you have no such luck. My answer is no Speedy." Oliver said.

"Um, Ollie, a word." Laurel said, pulling him aside.

"Laurel you cannot be serious. The last thing I want to put my baby sister in danger." Oliver said.

"She's not a baby anymore Ollie. She's almost 18 and she has your nobility, your honor, your drive to help people and your sense of right and wrong. And now that she knows that her big brother is the Arrow, she's going to want to help out in the same way you do. At least if she's on the team, we'll be able to make sure she knows everything she needs to know in order to keep herself safe out there and we can be sure to keep an eye on her. Plus, maybe this will be good for Thea in more ways than one." Laurel said.

"How so?" Oliver asked.

"Right now Thea is still confused about who she is after finding out about her adoption. Maybe this will help her figure that out. At least give her a chance. You teach her everything you know. You can show her how to be the hero she already sees you as." Laurel said.

"How do you know she thinks I'm a hero when I don't even think I'm one?" Oliver asked.

"Because I can see the way she looks at you. And I'm not talking about the Arrow, I'm talking about Oliver Queen. You've always been her hero. Let her be one to others now." Laurel said.

"I can already tell I'm going to regret this." Oliver said.

"Yeah, well we both know that even if I wasn't a lawyer, you could never beat me in an argument of any kind." Laurel said with a smile as she kissed him.


	14. Chapter 14

"So, what's going on here?" Thea asked as she entered the apartment to see Oliver and Laurel in the kitchen, looking over plans.

"We're looking over the floor plans of our new home." Oliver said.

"Why do we need a new home?" Thea asked.

"It's clear that this place is a bit too small for 3 of us and rather than using the insurance money to fix up this place, Laurel and I figured that instead we'd look for a new apartment, one that's big enough to hold all of us and well, today while you were at school, we found this place." Oliver said, showing Thea a picture of the loft.

"This place looks nice." Thea said.

"Yeah, we called the real estate agent and we're going to see the actual place a little later on today. So get started on your homework now." Laurel said.

"Seriously, I've been pent up in classes all day, I just want to watch some TV and unwind." Thea complained.

"Speedy, we had a deal. You can join the team only if you can prove to me that you can keep up with your schoolwork, which means making some sacrifices, including TV time." Oliver said.

"Must you ruin everything?" Thea asked.

"No, it's just a privilege I get as your big brother." Oliver said with a smile.

"He's right Thea. This is good practice for you learning to balance being a vigilante with living a normal life. Which means you are graduating high school." Laurel said.

"Fine." Thea grumbled as she headed towards the couch to get started.

"Do you think we should've told her that in the new place she'll have her own room?" Laurel asked.

"No, then she would not be focusing on her schoolwork at all, instead she'd be focusing on how to decorate her room." Oliver said.

"You really have stepped up as Thea's big brother. I'm proud of you." Laurel said.

"I felt it was time I actually started acting like her brother." Oliver said simply.

* * *

"This place is sick." Thea said as she, Oliver and Laurel finished their tour of the loft.

"She's right." Oliver said.

"So does that mean you'll take it?" the realtor asked.

"Yeah, we'll take it." Laurel said.

"Great, come with me and we'll get all the paperwork filled out." The realtor said.

"Great, thank you." Oliver said

"Hey, now that I think about it, it's almost Christmas, so why don't we have a Christmas housewarming party?" Thea asked.

"That's actually a good idea Speedy. That sounds normal and I for one could certainly use a dose of that." Oliver said.

"Okay, Thea, you call the party planner and I will handle the guest list." Laurel said.

"And let me guess, I get to pay for all of it?" Oliver asked.

"Huh, you're smarter than you look Ollie." Thea said as realtor brought them the paperwork.

* * *

Just after they'd closed the deal, all 3 of them got texts from Cisco, telling them to get to the Foundry now.

"Whoa, what did you do to this place?" Laurel asked as they entered the lair to find that Cisco that turned it into an actual lair. All the computers had been updated, with the addition of large touch screen monitors. The once rustic stations were replaced by metal benches with personalized equipment and latest generation construction. White reflectors had been installed in an organized way throughout the cave, along with several glass panels containing equipment and arrows. Various storage containers containing different materials have also been coupled. Oliver's bow is now kept in a specific glass container, and his attire is left to display on a mannequin in a glass panel. Despite the redesign, underground pipes can still be seen and used for exercising, including a rustic bar. Training mats have also been added for martial arts, along with an advanced training equipment aiming with bow and arrow. In addition, a medical area had been set up for Caitlin to work out of, including an area that would be used to continue running tests on Laurel to figure out what had caused her powers in the back near what was clearly going to become Cisco's workspace, were 2 cases, similar to the one that contained Oliver's suit, though these were covered by sheets.

"I told you I was going to upgrade this place." Cisco said.

"Yeah, but I thought you meant that you were going to put a few more computers in here or something like that, but this, well this is incredible." Oliver said.

"Thank you." Cisco said.

"What's under the sheets?" Thea asked.

"Ah, I am so glad you asked. Gather around everyone. Gather around." Cisco said.

"So, what exactly are those sheets hiding?" John asked.

"Seeing is better than saying." Cisco said simply as he pulled the sheets away to reveal 2 more mannequins, each one bearing a different suit.

The one on the left was made of pure black leather, comprised of what looked like a jacket that is zipped up to the neck with long sleeves, covering the entire arms, a turtleneck bodysuit that is made of lace and fishnet material underneath the jacket, leather pants, a garter-like belt and leg holsters, thigh high boots, as well as, fingerless gloves, also made of fishnet material. On both wrists were black high tech gauntlets and on the face were a pair of high tech goggles.

The case on the right contained a black leotard suit with a yellow arrow symbol pointing upwards in the center of the chest chest. The suit had yellow boots and gloves and also had a yellow cape and hood and to top it off, a bright yellow mask for identity to concealment. Inside the case was also a bright yellow bow and and several arrows.

"I give you, the Black Canary suit and the Speedy suit." Cisco said.

"Speedy suit?" Thea asked.

"It's just temporary until we can come up with another name." Cisco said.

"Actually I like it. We call you Speedy all the time anyways, so might as well make that your codename." Oliver said.

"I agree, and I have to say, I love the Black Canary suit, but what's with the glasses?" Laurel asked.

"The goggles are synced with those 2 gauntlets on both wrists of the suit and while it overall explanation is very high tech, they should allow you to control the sonic bursts you produce from your hands." Cisco said.

"Cool." Laurel said.


	15. Chapter 15

Thea was currently in the lair slapping a bowl of water while Laurel was working out on a punching bag as Oliver entered the lair after his latest mission with Diggle right behind him.

"So why do I have to do this?" Thea asked her brother.

"You said you wanted to be an archer, so I'm training you the same way I was trained. This exercise builds arm strength." Oliver explained.

"Can we please come out with you on patrol tonight. I mean, we've been training for weeks and all our suits are doing is gathering dust." Laurel said.

"Not yet. I still don't think you're ready." Oliver said.

"Than how come Diggle gets to go out with you?" Thea asked.

"Because I have military training and Laurel you have a law degree and Thea, you're still just a reformed party girl." John said.

"Harsh, but accurate. John's right, he and I both at least have some idea about how dangerous this line of work can be and have some kind of training to help prepare for it. And until I'm convinced that you can hold your own without powers, you will be training." Oliver said.

"And how do we prove that?" Laurel asked.

"When you can last at 3 minutes against me in hand to hand combat and when Thea can actually hit a bullseye." Oliver said.

"So never than." Thea said.

"I didn't say that. But, why don't we head out to the airstrip, Laurel, Cisco said he's come up with a special new training exercise to help you learn how to not only use your powers, but also the goggles and gauntlets." Oliver said.

"Great, let's go." Laurel said as she grabbed her jacket.

* * *

"Well, we're here, so what's the surprise?" Oliver asked Cisco as the rest of the team arrived at the airstrip.

"In my downtime I've been working on these." Cisco said, showing them a table containing 6 military drones.

"These things look like military drones." Dig said.

"That's because they're based off the specs QC is working on for the military, but anyway, I built these to test Laurel's reaction time to using her powers in life or death instances. These babies are armed with missiles and ion blasters." Cisco said.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Caitlin asked.

"Relax, the missiles aren't deadly, the worst they'll is explode and the ion blasters are set to stun." Cisco said.

"Okay then, do you have my gear?" Laurel asked.

"Yep, right here." Cisco said, handing her the goggles and gauntlets.

"Okay, so how do I know if these things are working?" Laurel asked.

"The gauntlets will light up with the goggles once the goggles have activated that parts of your brain that trigger the scream and have synced up with the gauntlets. It's a lot more complicated than it sounds." Cisco said.

"Really, because it sounds pretty complicated to me." Laurel said.

"Which should tell you just how complicated it is." Cisco pointed out.

"Fair point." Laurel said as she put the goggles on and immediately felt a change, as if she suddenly had so much more control over her powers, the hand blasts at least.

"Alright, now Laurel, we're going to start off with some basic target practice." Cisco said as he hit a button and several targets popped up.

"Remember, this exercise is designed to help you gain control over your hand powers, so focus on using those, not your cry." Cisco said.

"Got it." Laurel said as she a took a deep breath and held her hand, however, nothing happened.

She tried again, but with the same result.

"What's going on?" Laurel asked.

"Cisco, do you think that the goggle may somehow be messing with Laurel's powers?" Oliver asked.

"Only way to find out. Okay Laurel, scratch what I said before, try and use your sonic cry." Cisco said.

Laurel nodded as she took another deep breath and let loose her Canary cry, though now the blast was much more focused on a single target, rather than a massive blast.

"Well, that's an improvement. Looks like the tech at the very least allows Laurel to better focus the sound of her scream." Oliver said.

"Yeah, but we still don't know why she can't produce blasts from her hands anymore." Thea said.

"We'll have to run some more tests on her in order to more properly calibrate the gauntlets." Caitlin said.

"Okay, do it." Oliver said.

"I think that can wait until later, since it's getting pretty late and we have a Christmas party to decorate for tomorrow." Thea said.

"She's right Ollie." Laurel said.

"Okay then, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Oliver said to Cisco and Caitlin before the rest of them headed towards the car to head back to the loft.


	16. Chapter 16

On Christmas Eve, Oliver and Laurel were greeting guests to their party when Oliver noticed a face he had not seen in awhile.

"Tommy Merlyn, what have you been up to since I last saw you, what, 6 months ago?" Oliver asked.

"I've been in jail in Bludhaven. Apparently it's illegal to try and punch a cop while you're drunk." Tommy said.

Oliver smiled and said "How is it that even though I was probably a bigger party boy than you are, now I'm the one with a steady girlfriend, a sick place and I'm even working on opening my own business and one possibly taking over my family's while you are still the same frat boy you were when I left." Oliver said.

Tommy smiled and said "I have absolutely no idea. Though I suppose it helps that you've found someone worth slowing down for."

Oliver clapped Tommy's shoulder before saying "Don't worry buddy, I'm sure you'll get there."

"Yeah, there was only one girl I know who fit that description she's your steady girlfriend." Tommy said.

"Yeah sorry buddy, but I'm not sharing." Oliver said, right as Caitlin entered and Oliver had to stop himself from laughing as he saw the look on Tommy's face. It was the same look he'd had on his own face the first time he saw Laurel after he came back and every time he saw her after work.

"Hey Oliver, thanks for the invite, this party is incredible." Caitlin said.

"My pleasure. Caitlin this is my best friend Tommy Merlyn. Tommy this is a friend of Laurel and I from Central City, she actually just moved out here a few months ago, she works at Queen Consolidated, Dr. Caitlin Snow." Oliver said.

"Hi." Caitlin said, holding out her hand, which Tommy shook.

"I have to go, something tells me she was not invited." Oliver said, looking over towards his mother, who had just arrived with Walter.

"Yeah sure." Tommy said, clearly not paying any attention to him anymore.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" Oliver asked his mother.

"Well I assumed that I was invited with Walter, is that not the case?" Moira asked.

"No it is not and you know it. After all, I believe that the custody battle for Thea made it very clear that neither of us want you in our lives anymore." Oliver said.

"Oliver, like it or not, you are still my son." Moira said.

"Cut the crap, what are you really doing here?" Oliver asked, knowing his mother too well.

"I'm aware of your plans to utilize the shares of Queen Consolidated your father left you to shut down the company's weapons manufacturing and I was hoping to dissuade you from it, since that is the company's largest point of revenue." Moira said.

"Absolutely not. Dad always said that the day Queen Consolidated started building devices of death was the day hell froze over and now that I'm back, I'm going to start thawing it out. Allowing Queen Consolidated to continue to create weapons only dishonors dad's memory and I will not allow that to continue." Oliver said.

"Oliver, you do not seem to realize what doing this will do to the company." Moira said.

"I've already spoken Walter, the actual CEO of the company and he's on board with this plan and has already determined a new way to make up the difference. Now please get the hell off my property before I have you escorted off it." Oliver said.

"Fine, but make no mistake son, this is not over." Moira said.

"It feels like it's over and do not call me son. I am ashamed to call myself that, ever since I found out you told your own daughter you didn't want her. Only a heartless monster would say something like that to their own kid. Now leave and don't come back." Oliver said in a voice that completely apathetic.

Moira just nodded before walking out of the loft.

"What was that about?" Laurel asked.

"Just putting my mom in her place. She seemed to have thought that I've forgotten what she said to Thea by now." Oliver said.

"You know I never really liked your mother. But I put up with her because you are worth it." Laurel said.

Oliver smiled at her and said "Well now you don't have to anymore. And if you don't like my mom than that definitely means something since you always try to see the best in people, even when they don't see it themselves, especially me."

"It isn't hard to see the best in you Ollie. It's easy to see if you know where to look. When it's you, I don't have to try hard to find it. There is so much light inside you and even if you don't believe that, I do and I will keep saying that to you until you do believe it." Laurel said.

"And that is why I love you so much Laurel. You were always my light in the darkness. Did I ever tell you that while I was on the island, there were times I wanted to die and I almost killed myself several of those times?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, why?" Laurel confused as to why he would bring that up at a holiday party.

"Because I every time I did have those thoughts, I'm not sure if I was hallucinating or what, but I always saw you and you talked me off that ledge. You told me to keep on fighting. To come home to you." Oliver said and Laurel had tears in her eyes at hearing this.

"And you did." Laurel said.

"You saved me before I even came home. You were what drove me to stay alive. You are the reason I am standing here right now." Oliver said.

"That might just be the most romantic thing you've ever said to me." Laurel said.

"Well, who knows, maybe I can find a way to top it." Oliver said with a smile as they kissed again, though this one was much more passionate.


	17. Chapter 17

After the party had ended, the team returned to the lair after getting an alert from its computers about reports of another archer in Starling.

"Oliver, I've gotten a report that the copycat archer has been spotted in the Glades." Cisco said.

"Than that's where I'm going tonight." Oliver said.

"What, no crossing people off the list tonight?" Thea asked.

"This copycat takes priority. It is obvious that he is just as well trained as I am, only he doesn't have my honor or my restraint. He's not too concerned with killing innocent people. He has to be stopped." Oliver said as he went to suit up.

"Then you should have backup. Preferably from someone who doesn't have to worry about running out of ammo." Laurel said.

"No. I'm doing this one solo, end of conversation." Oliver said as he left to get changed.

"There's no way he's doing this solo." Laurel said to Thea.

"I was thinking the same exact thing." Thea said.

"If this copycat doesn't kill you than Oliver will if you go out there tonight." Dig said.

"I'm better with a bow than Ollie gives me credit for." Thea said as she grabbed her own bow from the Speedy suit display, notched three arrows and let them fly, all 3 of them hitting a single bullseye.

"Whoa, where'd you learn that?" Laurel asked.

"To help me channel my grief and anger after the Gambit went down, I convinced my mom to let me take archery classes and I got pretty good. Where do you think I got all those archery trophies in my bedroom?" Thea asked.

"Fair point, I'm guessing that Oliver doesn't realize that he's not the only archey prodigy in the family?" Laurel asked.

"No, because if he did, he wouldn't have me wasting my time slapping bowls of water." Thea said.

"Fair point." Laurel said as they both looked at Dig.

"Laurel, we still haven't figured out why your hand blasts aren't working anymore. We need more time to figure that out." Cisco said.

"We don't have time. This copycat is clearly to dangerous for Oliver to deal with alone. He needs backup." Laurel said.

"Fine. But if Oliver asks, this was all your idea." Cisco said.

"Agreed, now, let's go." Laurel said as she and Thea headed to suit up as well.

"I planted a tracker in Oliver's boot, should lead you straight to him. I also whipped up these earbuds to protect you from the sound." Cisco said.

"Good thinking." Laurel said.

"Be careful." Dig said.

"You're not coming?" Thea asked.

"No identity concealment. One look at me will easily out Oliver as the Arrow." John explained.

"We'll be on the comms." Cisco said.

"Let's go." Laurel said and Thea nodded.

* * *

Oliver was currently getting his ass kicked by the Dark Archer, though he managed to strike a few blows.

"Why don't we see who the Arrow really is under the hood?" The dark archer said as he grabbed the Arrow by his quiver and pulled him up.

But before he could remove Oliver's hood, they both heard a sonic scream pierce the air and send the dark archer flying backwards.

Oliver looked up to see Laurel and Thea, both of them suited up.

"Get away from him." Speedy said, letting loose an arrow that exploded in the dark archer's face.

"What are you both doing here?" Oliver asked.

"Saving your ass." Laurel said.

"What's up with your voice? That doesn't doesn't sound like voice modulator?" Oliver asked.

"That's because it's not. Another neat trick about my powers is that I can use them to manipulate my vocal chords to mask my voice." Laurel said as she put on of Oliver's arms around her shoulders and helps him up.

"Speedy, we need to get out of here now." Laurel said.

"Copy that." Thea said, firing another explosive arrow that provided then with the perfect cover to make their escape.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Prepare yourselves, since in this chapter, I will be revealing the source of Laurel's powers**

* * *

While Oliver confined at home on Dr. Laurel's orders, she and Thea had taken over protecting Starling city, since Oliver had finally conceded that they were ready.

"Hey Cisco, what are you working on?" Thea asked as she saw Cisco tinkering with her suit as she and Laurel entered the lair.

"I'm making some upgrades to your suit." Cisco said.

"What type of upgrades?" Thea asked.

"Well, I got to thinking that every hero needs a signature, like how Laurel has her powers, so I'm upgrading your suit with this touch screen that is being synced to your new quiver." Cisco said.

"And what exactly will that do?" Thea asked.

"While the arrow shafts will be pretty much the same, the quiver will be mechanized and full of different types of arrowheads, all of them having different capabilities and the touchscreen will allow you to select the arrowhead you want, which then be attached to a shaft and brought up for you to use." Cisco said.

"Okay, that actually sounds cool, but what types of arrows are we talking about?" Thea asked.

"In addition to normal arrows, exploding arrows, hacker arrows and cable arrows like Oliver has, you have some more, interesting choices. For example, taser arrows, net arrows, fire arrows, ice arrows, emp arrows, and scatter arrows." Cisco said.

"Sounds like fun." Thea said with a grin.

"Laurel, I think we figured out how to fix your sonic blast problem." Caitlin said as she entered the lair.

"Since when are you late? Where's Tommy?" Laurel asked knowingly, causing Caitlin to blush.

"We were out to dinner, but then things that are none of my business to talk about happened and we actually only left the restaurant a little while ago." Caitlin said.

"Sounds like you're going to be the girl who lasts more than 2 days. I mean you and Tommy have been together for 2 weeks, I think that's a record for how long he's been with the same girl." Thea said.

"Well I can hope, he's actually going to talk to Oliver about something right now." Caitlin said.

"Ok, but anyways, Caitlin, what were you saying about my whole power problem?" Laurel asked.

"Oh right, the problem is that Cisco calibrated the goggles to stimulate the parts of your brain that control your scream, but we have no idea what part of your brain activate when you use your hand blasts, so we figure that if we do a ct scan on you while you're using your hand blasts and that should tell us which areas of your brain are stimulated when you use your hand blasts and that should help us properly calibrate both your goggles and gauntlets to help you control them a bit more accurately." Caitlin said.

"Let's do it." Laurel said.

"Uh, one problem, we don't have a ct scan machine and I don't think we have time for me to figure out how to build one." Cisco said.

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Laurel said, since they had never actually tried doing a ct scan on her and she was hoping that this might shine some light on the source of her powers in the first place.

"Another problem is that we're still not sure what triggers the hand blasts either, we need to know that in order to make sure that goggles work properly." Thea said.

"Good point. Laurel, the first time you used your hand blasts, how did you feel?" Cisco asked.

"Angry that I didn't understand what was happening to me, confused about how I could do what I did, scared that I could hurt somebody I care about if I couldn't figure out how to control my powers." Laurel said.

"What about the second time?" Caitlin asked.

Laurel shrugged and said "I don't know, it was just, instinctual."

"Maybe you subconsciously tapped into those emotions the second time." Cisco said as they continued to consider.

* * *

As it turns out, Queen Consolidated had just completed the development of a next gen portable ct scanner, which Oliver had convinced Walter to let him borrow for the testing, though he didn't say the real reason.

Anyways, now Laurel, Cisco, Caitlin and Thea were all standing on the airstrip, the scanner on Laurel's head as Cisco made sure it was calibrated correctly.

"Okay Laurel, let her rip." Cisco said.

Laurel nodded as she tried again to use her hand blasts and this time they worked.

"Ok, so we were right about the trigger, now did you get the results yet?" Laurel asked as she took the scanner off and walked back to them.

"Yeah, they're coming in now." Cisco said as he saw the results.

"That can't be right, Caitlin, come take a look at this." Cisco said.

"What's up?" Caitlin asked.

"Check out which parts of Laurel's brain lit up when she used her powers." Cisco said.

"You're right, these results can't be right." Caitlin said.

"Why not?" Laurel asked.

"Because according to this, Laurel the reason you have powers is because your brain has 5 lobes." Caitlin said.

"Okay, I'm not following?" Laurel said.

"The human brain is only supposed to have 4 lobes. This extra lobe is the reason you have powers, since that's the part of your brain that's lit up like a Christmas tree when you used your sonic blasts." Caitlin said.


	19. Chapter 19

"Wait what?" Laurel asked, since this was news to her.

"You didn't know you had an extra lobe in your head?" Caitlin asked.

"No I didn't. But why am I only finding out now?" Laurel asked.

"Maybe it has something to do with age. Or maybe it's triggered by emotion, since you did say that your powers originally showed up when Oliver started training you and you reacted in fear." Thea said.

"I need to talk to my dad, find out if he knew about this." Laurel said.

"You can't do that." Cisco said.

"Why the hell not?" Laurel asked.

"Because if you confront him about this, he might be able to piece together that you're the Black Canary and from there he might be able to figure out who the Arrow is and then that could jeopardize our entire operation, especially considering his other daughter is vigilante hater #1." Cisco reminded her.

"Fair point. But I feel like I should at least tell Ollie, though I'm nervous about how he'll react." Laurel said.

"Laurel, I swear, there is nothing you could tell my brother that would make him love you any less. The fact that you the only thing keeping him sane while he was on the island proves that." Thea assured her.

"I hope you're right Speedy." Laurel said.

* * *

"Now this is a sight I never thought I'd see with my own eyes. Oliver Queen, actually obeying the doctor's orders." Tommy said as he entered the loft to see Oliver laid up on the couch.

"Well, considering I've been grounded by Dr. Laurel, I really don't have a choice about it." Oliver said with a smile.

"So, Laurel's essentially grounded you." Tommy said.

"Basically, though I can't deny that she wasn't justified to do so." Oliver said.

"How much longer till you can leave the apartment?" Tommy asked.

"Considering the only thing broken is my ribs, I should be able to leave now, but you know how Laurel can be." Oliver said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not here to talk about your love life." Tommy said.

"So why are you here?" Oliver asked.

"My dad cut me off." Tommy said.

"Tommy, you know my trust fund is your trust fund." Oliver said.

"Thanks, but I don't want your money. But Caitlin happened to mention that you were still looking for a manager for your club." Tommy said.

"The job's yours, though you may need to take some business classes during the day." Oliver said.

"Thanks Oliver." Tommy said with a smile as Laurel entered the apartment.

"Hey Tommy, can I speak to Oliver alone please?" Laurel asked.

"I was just leaving anyways." Tommy assured her before he left.

"So what's up?" Oliver asked.

"Well, we figured out what caused my powers." Laurel said.

"And, you've got me on edge now." Oliver said.

"It turns out I was born with a birth defect." Laurel said.

"Laurel, that's not possible. There is nothing about you that could be called defective." Oliver said.

"My brain has an extra lobe on it and that's what gives me my powers." Laurel said.

"Laurel, I'm still not seeing why you'd think that makes it's a defect?" Oliver said.

"Ollie, my whole life I thought I was just like everyone else. Now I find out that I'm some sort of freak. There is literally something wrong with me." Laurel said.

"Laurel, it's not a defect. It's a gift. I mean, think about how much good you've been able to use those powers in the short time since you became the Black Canary. The thing that makes you different is just one of the many things that makes you special." Oliver said.

"I don't know Ollie." Laurel said.

"Well, I was saving this for our anniversary, but something tells me you could use this right now." Oliver said as he reached into his pocket.

"Use what?" Laurel asked.

"I'm hoping that this will show you that no matter what it is that gives you your powers, it doesn't change the fact that you will always be Laurel Lance, one of the best lawyers in Starling City, a pretty badass superhero and most importantly, the woman I love with all my heart." Oliver said as he pulled a jewelry box from his pocket and after Laurel helped him sit up, he opened it for her to see.

"Oliver, is this?" Laurel asked as she saw what was inside the box. It was a gold ring with an arrowhead shaped diamond mounted on it.

"Yes, it is. Dinah Laurel Lance, will you marry me?" Oliver asked.


	20. Chapter 20

"Dinah Laurel Lance, will you marry me?" Oliver asked her, holding out the ring.

"You really want to marry me?" Laurel asked.

"More than anything in the world." Oliver said.

"Yes I will marry you." Laurel said.

Oliver smiled as they kissed, right as Thea walked in.

"My eyes." Thea said dramatically as she covered her eyes as if they were burning.

"Oh grow up Thea." Oliver said, rolling his eyes at his little sister.

"Well Thea, you were right about Oliver." Laurel said.

Thea was about to ask how she figured that out she noticed the ring in the box.

"Ollie, you proposed?" Thea asked.

"Yes I did." Oliver said with a smile.

"It's about damn time." Thea said.

"Speaking of which Laurel, I think it's time you actually start wearing this." Oliver said as he took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger.

"Does my dad know you proposed to me?" Laurel asked.

"Well, I mean asked him for his blessing out of common courtesy, though he didn't give it, honestly I think it's just because he's overprotective, but the point is that yes your dad knows I was planning on proposing, I just don't think he approves." Oliver said.

"Some things never change." Thea said.

"Well I'm going to have to hope that this does I'll talk to him since I don't want to wait too long to get married." Laurel said.

"Wait Laurel, I thought that you'd want us to take our time and have a nice big ceremony?" Oliver asked.

"And 5 years ago I would've. But Ollie, considering our line of work, we never know if we'll survive to the next day and that's why I don't want to wait. I want to be your wife as soon as possible." Laurel said.

Before Oliver could respond, his phone buzzed and when he looked at it, he saw a text that made him groan.

"What's wrong?" Thea asked.

"That was a text from Walter. Apparently the final appeal and voting on whether or not to shut down the weapons division of Queen Consolidated was moved up from 2 months from now to 2 days from now, no doubt mom's work in order to make sure I don't succeed, but now it appears that someone is also trying to lock me out of the company." Oliver said.

"Mom's trying to shut you out because she's afraid that you might succeed." Thea said.

"Which might actually allow us to give her a checkmate." Laurel said.

"Wait what?" Oliver asked.

"Moira has no pull to do anything like that, since you currently own 80 percent of the shares of Queen Consolidated, since Thea won't inherit the 30 percent your dad left her until she turns 21, but even without it, you still own a majority of stock in the company, so unless she has unanimous support from the entire board, your mom can't out you, if anything, this would give you the grounds for a slam dunk that would leave her penniless and lock her out of the company entirely." Laurel said.

"Can you look into that?" Oliver asked Laurel.

"I'll get straight to work on it." Laurel said, secretly thinking we got you about Moira.

"Great, and in the meantime, Ollie, I'll help you prepare for your presentation, since I think you're on the right track and you have some good ideas, you just need some help getting them across to the rest of the board." Thea said.

"Thanks Speedy." Oliver said as Thea gently hugged her before running up to her room to prepare.

"So, why was Tommy here?" Laurel asked.

"Apparently his dad, being the dick that he is, cut Tommy off, so Tommy asked me for a job as the new manager of Verdant." Oliver said.

"You realize that means that sooner or later, you'll have to tell him, especially considering how close he and Caitlin are getting and it'll throw an Arrow shaped bomb in not only their relationship, but all of our friendships with him if he finds out that we've been keeping this a secret from him." Laurel told him.

"I know, and I want to tell him, but you know how bad Tommy is at lying and keeping secrets. Besides, him not knowing keeps him safe." Oliver said.

"I'm just making sure you're aware that you might not be able to come back from this one if he finds out you're lying to him." Laurel said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Oliver said.

Laurel nodded and said "I guess I should go talk to my dad and see if I can get him to come around, since I plan on marrying you, with or without his approval, though I'd rather have it so he can walk me down the aisle."

"Than I think you've got your work cut for you." Oliver said and Laurel laughed as they kissed again.

"So am I finally off bedrest?" Oliver asked.

"As long as you promise to take it easy and no arrow shooting for a few more days, yes." Laurel said.


	21. Chapter 21

Oliver had just finished watching his mother's presentation and he could tell that the board was heavily swayed to side with her, not only on the weapons case, but also on outing him from the company, though Oliver planned to change that.

"Ok Mr. Queen. Your mother has made her case as to why Queen Consolidated should continue to manufacture weapons, now it is your turn to make your case as to why we should end it." Walter said.

Oliver nodded, knowing that Walter only sounded the way he did because he had to, since he knew that Walter agreed with his proposal.

"Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as you are all aware, my father founded this company with one goal in mind. To help people, to save lives, not end them. That is why he swore that this company would never create weapons or as he called them, devices of death and destruction, as long as he could help it and I intend to carry on that vision. Now don't get me wrong, I'm aware of just how big of a contribution that the weapons manufacturing division of this company makes, however, after reviewing some of it's projects, I think that rather than feeding crisis and starting wars, this company could it's technology to actually change the world for the better and solve some of it's greatest issues." Oliver said.

"Like what Mr. Queen?" a board woman asked.

"Well, for starters, after taking a look at this entire array of next gen weaponry you've been developing for the military, I notice that it's being powered by something called dwarf star, which if it's as powerful as my friend Cisco Ramon says it is, could be used to power this entire city and considering the size of the mining operation this company has for it in Liberty Colorado, possibly the entire country or maybe even the world, since our scientist have obviously already cracked how to use dwarf star a power source, so maybe instead of using it power weapons of mass destruction, Queen Consolidated could start trying to get into the field of creating clean, self-sustaining energy that could in turn eliminate the need for carbon based fuel." Oliver said, happy that Cisco and Thea had made him rehearse that constantly over and over again until he knew that entire speech by heart.

"While that is an interesting proposal Mr. Queen, one project would not be enough to make up the difference of profits that would occur if we shut down weapon development." another board member said.

"But who said that was my only pitch?" Oliver asked and the board looked interested, so he continued.

"These nanites the company has been developing for military use in code breaking and intelligence gathering, but what if instead they were repurposed for medical use. They could help doctors better diagnose patients and one day possibly cure diseases like cancer. And then there's the O.M.A.C exosuit. However, rather than being used to as a weapon of mass destruction, it could be used as the next thing in exploring either the depths of the oceans or the vast outreaches of space. And these are just some examples of how we can turn this company around and make it the gem it once was under my father's leadership." Oliver said as he finished his presentation.

"Thank you Mr. Queen. Now that we've heard both of your arguments, the board will put this matter to a vote." Walter said and Oliver and Moira both nodded before heading out.

* * *

As they were waiting, Oliver smiled as he saw his fiance walking up to him.

"Laurel, what are you doing here? I thought you had to be at work?" Oliver asked.

"I wanted to share the good news with you myself and I didn't want to wait until you came home tonight to do it." Laurel said as Walter came back out.

"The board has reached a decision, ah, Ms. Lance, why don't you join us?" Walter said.

"Ok." Laurel said, confused since she wasn't a businesswoman, she was a lawyer, but went in nonetheless.

"The board of Queen Consolidated and I have all decided to vote in favor of Mr. Queen, since we have looked over his data and we believe his ideas show a lot of merit and also will allow this company to do more good for everyone, not just the military." Walter said and Oliver grinned triumphantly.

"And that is not the only decision we've made. The board has also decided to lock Moira Queen out of Queen Consolidated for attempting to do the very same thing to her son, who I believe is the primary shareholder in this company and therefore she had no rights to do that without first receiving a unanimous vote from the board, which she did not, so we have decided to remove her from the company before she gets anymore ideas." another board member said.

"What? This is outrageous. I'll call my lawyer." Moira said.

"And you'll pay him with what money?" Laurel asked her.

"My family funds, why?" Moira asked.

"Because as of 5 hours ago, your funds are nothing, since after Oliver was made aware of what you were planning and I informed him that you had no right to try and do that, he asked to file a defamation suit against you, which I happily did. I took it to a judge I trusted and he passed it, leaving you bankrupt. Walter's accounts have been left untouched, of course, but you Moira, are now the poorest member of the Queen Family." Laurel said to her gloatingly.

Walter pressed a button on his phone and said "Security, can you please come to the conference room and escort Mrs. Queen from the premises."


	22. Chapter 22

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me." Moira said to Malcolm Merlyn.

"Well, it's not like I had much of a choice considering how you've pretty much allowed the Undertaking to fall apart." Malcolm said.

"I tried my best to stop him, but the board was moved by his arguments. Besides, I know you Malcolm and I know that you're always prepared." Moira said.

"You're right, I am. However, this has forced me to move up my timetable. The Undertaking is nearly upon us." Malcolm said.

"Malcolm, are you sure you want to go through with this? Robert backed out for a reason." Moira said.

"And that got him killed, as you know." Malcolm said.

"Yes I already told you knew that Robert's yacht had been sabotaged." Moira said.

"Which is why I need you to remove any evidence of that before it becomes public knowledge. Such as emptying out the warehouse where you're storing the remains of the Queen's Gambit." Malcolm said.

"Already done, like you said, I can't risk having any of this traced back to me, but are you sure there isn't another way? All those people in the glades are innocent." Moira said.

"You mean just like Rebecca was?" Malcolm asked before he walked away from Moira, neither of them aware of the shadowy figure that had just recorded their entire conversation.

* * *

"Diggle, I see you've finally returned from your mission." Oliver said, since he'd asked Diggle to keep an eye on his mother months ago, since he knew that something was going on with his mom, he just didn't know what.

"Yeah and it turns out your mother is even worse than you thought. Listen to this." Diggle said as he replayed the recording for Oliver to hear.

"She's planning something with Malcolm Merlyn, something involving the Glades. Which means we have to figure out what the Undertaking is and stop it, or else a whole lot of people are going to die." Oliver said as his whole team was now gathered around him.

"Oliver, how do you plan on figuring out what she's up to. It's clear that no matter what, she'd rather give her own life than tell the Arrow what the Undertaking is." Thea said.

"Which is why it won't be her life on the line." Oliver said.

* * *

Oliver had just woken up in another warehouse, tied to a chair but he saw his mother tied to another chair with the Black Canary threatening him.

"Please! Do not hurt my son." She pleaded.

"Tell me what the Undertaking is and I won't have to." Laurel said; her voice distorted thanks to her powers. Moira hesitated, torn between protecting her son now, and protecting him from Malcolm overall. Laurel looked down at Oliver, who looked up at her and subtly nodded. Laurel hauled off and slugged him.

"No!" Moira cried.

"Tell me!" Laurel yelled, punching Oliver again.

"Please! Leave my son alone!" she begged, tears in her eyes.

"What is Malcolm Merlyn planning?!" The Black Canary demanded, still facing Oliver.

"I can't tell you! He'll kill me, he'll kill my family." She cried.

"You should be more worried about what I'll do." Laurel snarled. She hit Oliver hard in the face, knocking him and the chair over. Oliver coughed and gasped in pain.

"No! Malcolm is planning to level the Glades!" Moira finally admitted. "He said so he could rebuild it, but…"

Laurel stalked over to Moira, carefully keeping her face hidden. "How?" she demanded.

"There's a device."

"What device?!"

"He says that it can cause an earthquake." Moira said.

Laurel was stunned. "How is this possible?" she asked, walking behind her.

"I don't know." Moira said. "It was invented by Unidac Industries. Malcolm was originally going to use my company's Applied Sciences to turn it into a weapon, but ended up having to use one of his subsidiary companies do it after my son shut down the company's weapons manufacturing."

"Why would you get involved in something like this?" Laurel asked quietly.

"My husband…" Moira said hesitantly as Oliver listened from the floor. "He got involved without my knowing. He was just trying to do some good." She said, more for Oliver's sake than the Black Canary's. "He was lost. He… his decisions left me vulnerable to Malcolm, and I had no choice. I had to protect my family and my children." She finished, trying to justify her actions while shocking Oliver to no ends that she would try to use him and to his even greater disgust Thea, to justify what she was doing.

"This device," The Black Canary started, "Where is it?"

"I don't know." She said tearfully.

"If you don't tell me, I can't stop Merlyn!" The Black Canary said angrily.

Moira scoffed. "Oh, you can't stop him." She spat. "It's too late."

Laurel pulled a flechette from the back of her suit and stalked over to Oliver.

Moira's eyes widened in panic. "No, no, no, I told you everything!" she cried. She stilled when The Black Canary cut Oliver's wrist free. She then walked back behind Moira and cut the rope holding her to the chair, allowing it to drop free.

Moira ignored the vigilante, who was walking away, and hurried over to her son. "Oliver!" she cried.

"No!" Oliver gasped in pain- more emotional than physical, pushing her away.

She looked at him sadly. "Oh, sweet- Please, I know what you must be thinking, sweetheart, but I never intended any of this to happen." He coughed, glaring at her. "You know I would never willingly be a part of anything like this." She pleaded.

Oliver staggered to his feet. "I don't know anything anymore." He said wearily, limping out of the warehouse- away from his mother.


	23. Chapter 23

I decided to write this chapter in response to WinterRain36's request about a confrontation between Sara and the Black Canary, since I agree that I should've written something like this sooner, and I might also be adding in a few other requested elements and other familiar faces from the Arrowverse in this chapter soon. I hope you all enjoy it

* * *

Due to a call they'd gotten from Sara over the phone Oliver had given Lance months ago to contact the team for whatever reason, but now Oliver was making contact with her.

"Detective, how did you get the phone I gave your partner to contact me with?" the Arrow asked.

"He gave it to me so that I could get in contact with you about a case I'm working." Sara said.

"Oliver, she's lying, I'm picking up 6 snipers on every building in the area. Black Canary and Speedy are already en route." Cisco said.

The Arrow raised his bow and said "Call off your guys now and tell your father I want that phone back by the end of the day tomorrow."

"Please, we both know you won't kill me." Sara said.

"That true, but I can't make any promises for my partner." The Arrow said as he fired an arrow at the nearest sniper.

Sara pulled out her gun, only to find herself blasted backwards by the Black Canary.

"Stand down Sara." The Black Canary said in her disguised voice.

"How do you know my name?" Sara asked.

"Your first name is common knowledge to vigilantes everywhere, but what I don't understand is why you hate us so much. I mean, we're protecting this city the same as you, so what is so wrong with that? What did any of us do to you?" The Black Canary asked, hoping to finally get some answers from her sister.

However, Sara's answer surprised her.

"Do you have any siblings?" Sara asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Black Canary asked.

"Because I do. My older sister, Laurel. She's been looking out for me and protecting me ever since I was born, she always knew how to brighten up my day. She always kept me safe and now it's my turn to do that for her." Sara said.

"What do you mean?" Black Canary asked.

"While she may never admit it, I know that she admires you vigilantes and I'm worried that might cause her to try and become one herself and I don't want her to do something that is not only illegal, but could also get her killed. That's why I'm so hellbent on bringing you all to justice. To save her from herself and to show her that no one is above the law. Not even the Arrow." Sara said.

"Maybe instead of wasting your time trying to arrest me, you should tell her that, though a bit of advice, don't try to save people who don't want to be saved." Black Canary said.

Sara heard the shooting in background stop and she turned to see all of her officers promptly knocked out, all of them with minor flesh wounds and the Arrow was gone.

Sara then turned back to see that the Black Canary was gone to.

"Well, that didn't go as planned." Sara said.

* * *

"Well, Sara's answer was not what I was expecting it to be." Laurel said to her fiance.

"So the whole reason Sara's been after us this past year is because she thinks she's trying to protect you." Oliver asked.

"Yeah, though she's got a hell of a way of showing it, considering we haven't talked to each other in months. She's been so hellbent on capturing me that she didn't even realize that she's pushing me away." Laurel said.

"Then maybe you should tell her that." Oliver suggested.

"Maybe. But anyways, where's Thea, I mean, she never came home last night." Laurel asked.

"I don't know, but Thea's a big girl, she can handle herself." Oliver said as his phone went off and he saw by the caller id that it was Thea.

"Hey Speedy, where've you been?" Oliver asked.

"Hello Mr. Queen, or should I call you the Arrow?" the dark Archer's voice said.

"Where the hell is my sister?" Oliver asked.

"Why should I tell you. After all, you're the one who did to her by interfering with my plans." The Dark Archer said.

"So you have a beef with me, fine, but let my sister go. She's innocent." Oliver said.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that, considering what you've taught her. Speedy, what an obvious clue, should've given me the first hint as to her identity." Dark Archer said and suddenly Oliver realized something about the Dark Archer's identity. Only someone close to him would know that Oliver called Thea Speedy.

"Who are you and how do you know me?" Oliver asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Dark Archer said.

"Where is my sister?" Oliver asked.

"Don't worry, I'll return her to you safe and sound on one condition, revoke your plans and restart the weapons division of Queen Consolidated, now." the Dark Archer said before he ended the call.

"Ollie, what's wrong?" Laurel asked.

"The dark archer as Thea and he knows that I'm the Arrow which means that he also probably knows that Thea's Speedy and you're the Black Canary." Oliver said as he headed out.

"Where are you going?" Laurel to asked.

"To find my sister." Oliver said.


	24. Chapter 24

Moira was looking into ways to regain her fortune from Queen Consolidated when she heard someone enter the study.

"Oliver, what brings you here? After all, I have nothing left for you to take." Moira said snarkily to her son.

"Mom, what the hell did you do?" Oliver asked.

"Excuse me?" Moira asked.

"I got a call that Thea has been kidnapped and what the kidnapper wants in return is for Queen Consolidated to resume building weapons, so that points this to you. Where is Thea?" Oliver asked angrily.

"Oliver, I swear I have no idea where Thea is." Moira said.

"Stop lying to me. For once in your life, tell the truth. Where is my sister?" Oliver asked.

"Why do you even care? She's not your real sister." Moira said.

"She may not be my sister by birth, but she is my sister in every other way. Now tell me, where is she?" Oliver asked again.

"Oliver, why are you coming to me and not the police? After all, I believe that both your fiance has 2 family members in the SCPD." Moira said.

"Tell me what you know about Thea, please." Oliver begged her.

"I'm sorry Oliver. But I promise you that I have no idea where Thea is." Moira said.

Oliver nodded, not believing her for a minute, but decided that if his mother would not be truthful with Oliver Queen, maybe she needed a bit more convincing.

* * *

Sara was currently drinking a beer in her apartment when she heard a knock on the door.

"It's open." Sara said.

The door opened to reveal her sister on the other side.

"You don't lock your door. You know for a cop, you're really bad about security." Laurel said with a smile and Sara laughed.

"I'm honestly still not sure how I managed to become a detective since I can barely remember where I leave my key." Sara said.

Laurel smiled as she entered the apartment and saw that Sara had been busy.

"And I thought I was the one who was obsessed with the guy in the green hood." Laurel said with a smile.

"Not in the same way as you. I can promise you that." Sara said.

"Sara, can you please help me understand something?" Laurel asked.

"Sure, what's up?" Sara asked.

"What is it that you have against these vigilantes. It seems like they're doing good work." Laurel said.

"You're the reason I'm so hellbent on catching them." Sara said.

"What?" Laurel asked.

"Laurel, I've seen the way you idolize them and I'm worried that it might drive you to try to join them and that could get you arrested or even killed. That's why I'm doing this. You've been watching out for me and protecting me for as long as I can remember. Now it's my turn to watch out for you and keep you safe. The whole reason I became a cop is because after so many years of having you keep me safe, I wanted to be the one do that for you." Sara said.

"But Sara, what you don't even seem to realize is that while you think what you're doing is protecting me, what it's really doing is pushing me away." Laurel said.

"I am?" Sara asked.

"Yeah. Honestly Sara, did you even know that Ollie and I are engaged? When was the last time we had a Lance sister movie night? Everything you've done since the vigilante came on the scene has pushed me farther and farther away." Laurel said.

"I'm sorry." Sara said.

"It's fine, but while I love you for trying to keep me safe, remember, I'm a big girl who is in a relationship with Oliver Queen, which I think means that I can handle anything." Laurel said as Sara got a text on her phone

"I just got a text from dad saying that the Arrow paid Moira Queen a little visit a little while ago." Sara said.

"That's weird." Laurel said, wondering why Oliver would go after his own mother. Sure she deserved it, but still, she knew that Oliver would not go after Moira without a specific purpose.

* * *

 _At the same time, Queen Manor_

Moira sipping some tea when the Arrow came crashing in through the window.

"Moira Queen, you have failed this city." The Arrow said.

"What do you want?" Moira asked.

"Where is Thea Queen? The Arrow asked.

"I don't know, I swear." Moira said.

"I'm going to ask you again, where is Thea Queen?" the Arrow asked.

"Did my son put you up to this?" Moira demanded.

"I don't think you understand how this works. Now I'm only going to ask you this again one more time before I start using arrows. Where is Thea Queen?" The Arrow shouted at her angrily.

"I swear on my life, I don't know where she is." Moira said.

"But you know something about her disappearance. Tell me and I'll let you go unscathed." The Arrow said.

Moira weighed her fear of Malcolm over her fear of the Arrow before answering.

"One of my associates abducted her to try and leverage my son into restarting the weapons manufacturing division of Queen Consolidated." Moira said.

"Give me a name." The Arrow said as he notched an arrow.

"I don't know who did it." Moira said.

"It was someone who knew your son would do anything to save his sister. Who are your associates?" The Arrow asked.

"Most of them are in prison, the only one I can think of is." Moira said before pausing.

"Who? Who is it?" The Arrow asked and Moira could tell that he inches away from letting the arrow fly.

"You'll have to kill me because no matter scared I am of you, I'm terrified of him more." Moira said.

"We'll see about that." The Arrow said as he lowered his bow and just as Moira relaxed, he threw a dart into her neck, which knocked her out.


	25. Chapter 25

"What the hell were you thinking going after your mother. Now you're just asking the SCPD to arrest you." Laurel said to Oliver as she entered the lair.

"What I was thinking is that it was the only I was going to find any clues about where Thea is and it paid off, since now I know who took her. I know who the Dark Archer is." Oliver said.

"How'd you figure that out?" Diggle asked.

"On the phone the Dark Archer said that he knew that Thea's codename was the same as my childhood nickname for her and that's how he figured out my identity. Then my mother told me that only one of her associates came to mind about who could've done this, so after I had Cisco go over a list of her known associates and cross reference them with the names on the list that I haven't crossed off, yet, there's only man who fits the description." Oliver said as he pulled up an image on the computer.

"Oliver, that's." Caitlin said.

"Malcolm Merlyn. The CEO of Merlyn Global, Tommy's father and the mass murderer known as the Dark Archer." Oliver said.

"How can Merlyn be the Dark Archer? I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a dick, but a murderer?" Laurel asked.

"It might add up. After his wife's death years ago, Malcolm left Starling for 2 years. No phone call or anything like that, just poof, he was gone. Maybe while he was gone, he became the sick monster he is today. Whatever the case, if Merlyn is holding my sister hostage, than it means he's at least gone some role to play in all this. And let's not forget the conversation Diggle overheard him have with our mom." Oliver said.

"Oliver, I think you're missing something else here." Cisco said.

"And what is that exactly?" Oliver asked.

"If Merlyn has anything to do with this Undertaking, then maybe we can finally find out what it is and finally be able to stop it." Cisco said.

"What do you need to do that?" Oliver asked.

"Physical access to the Merlyn Global servers." Cisco said.

"Then that's what we get you." Oliver said.

"How?" Caitlin asked.

"By getting someone he trusts to install a router into the Merlyn Global mainframe that will give Cisco direct access to all of Merlyn's files and hopefully, find my sister." Oliver said.

"And who would that be?" Caitlin asked.

"Your boyfriend. It's time to bring Tommy into the fold." Oliver said.

* * *

While Tommy had a hard time wrapping his head around all of this, he agreed that he and Oliver could hash it out after his father was dealt with and agreed to help them stop the Undertaking.

"So exactly do I need to do?" Tommy asked.

"It's simple really. You know where the data core of Merlyn Global is located?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, I know every square inch of the place." Tommy said.

"Good, then all you have do is plug this into one of the servers and then remove it when Cisco gives you the all clear." Oliver said, handing him a flash drive.

"Great, though Oliver, if things go the way we hope they do, well, someone's going to have to clean up my father's mess with Merlyn Global and my father's been grooming me to take over the company, so." Tommy said.

"I'll find someone else to manage the club." Oliver said.

"And, while I still don't know how to process the fact that my best friends are all vigilantes, it doesn't change the fact that this city is better place because of you guys." Tommy said.

"I'm glad you understand and you also understand why all of us, even Caitlin kept this a secret from you?" Oliver asked.

"I do, you were just trying to keep me safe." Tommy said.

"Yep, but now, you ready to be a hero?" Oliver asked.

"I'm not really sure if doing this qualifies, but if gets Thea back, then hell yeah." Tommy said.

"Good luck." Oliver said.

"Where are you going to be?" Tommy asked.

"Laurel and I will be on standby. The moment Cisco tracks down Thea's location, we're moving out." Oliver said as Caitlin and Cisco entered the lair.

"Oliver, I think we've found a way to expose Moira's involvement in the Undertaking and get her arrested and take the whole thing down before it even begins." Cisco said.

"While that's great, we can't do anything with that yet." Oliver said.

"What, why not?" Caitlin asked.

"As long as Malcolm has Thea, we can't make a move against the Undertaking, since he could just as easily kill Thea for ruining his plans." Oliver said and Caitlin and Cisco nodded.

"So it seems like Mr. Diggle will be very bored during all this." Tommy said.

"No he won't. He's going to be your backup." Oliver said.

"So, what you don't trust me enough not to screw this up?" Tommy asked.

"No, but Tommy, whatever your father is planning, it's clear that he's willing to kill to keep it alive. Dig is going to be there to provide you with some protection should you need it." Oliver explained and Tommy nodded.

"Good luck." Tommy said to Oliver.

"You to." Oliver said, shaking his hand.

* * *

"You say your goodbyes?" Oliver asked Laurel as she entered the lair.

"No because I'm coming back and so are you." Laurel said.

"Laurel, regardless of what happens when we face Malcolm, the Arrow will die tonight." Oliver said.

"You're hanging up the hood?" Laurel asked.

"This hood yes. Because now I finally realize that the Undertaking, whatever it is, was the reason the Arrow existed, it was what my father wanted me to stop. But I also realize that this city still needs someone to protect it. I'm finally realizing that the Arrow is not the man I became on the island." Oliver said.

"Then what was he? A reason to put arrows in people?" Laurel asked.

"No, he was a cocoon that I have been in for the past 6 years now changing from the boy I was into the man I have become. And I think that I'm finally ready to shed that cocoon." Oliver said.

"And what will you emerge from it as?" Laurel asked.

"I don't know yet. But what I do know is that whoever, whatever I become, it'll be because I had you to help me find it." Oliver said as he kissed her and Laurel smiled into the kiss.


	26. Chapter 26

Thea was currently tied up in a chair in some abandoned clinic.

"Hello Ms. Queen." the Dark Archer said.

"Whoever you are, I promise you that the Arrow will come for me and when he does, he's going to kill you and stop your plans." Thea said, just to get punched in the face.

"Don't you think I know your brother will come for you. I'm planning on it so I can finally finish the job I started 6 years ago." Dark Archer said.

"What are you talking about? What did you start 6 years ago that involves killing my brother?" Thea asked before it dawned on her.

"The Queen's Gambit didn't go down in a storm. You sabotaged it. You killed my father and tried to kill my brother." Thea said angrily.

"Nice to see you're not just a pretty face Ms. Queen." Dark Archer said tauntingly, unaware of what Thea had been doing during this conversation.

"You're right, I'm not." Thea said as she slipped her hands out of her zipties and punched him, buying enough time to fully free herself and broke the chair to give herself a weapon.

"This is for my father." Thea said as she tried her hardest to fight off her abductor, actually landing a few solid shots in and buying herself enough time to get to her phone, which she simply hit the panic button Cisco had put on all their phones for something exactly like this, instantly alerting the team to her location.

* * *

"Thea's panic button was just activated." Cisco said.

"Where is she?" Oliver asked.

"It looks like some random abandoned building in the Glades." Cisco said, showing him the address.

"That's not random. That's the clinic his wife Rebecca used to run before she was killed." Oliver said.

"Oliver, you realize that this is a trap right?" Laurel asked.

"I do, which is why once Thea is safe, I want you to hit Malcolm with all 3 of your sonic blasts." Oliver said.

"Oliver, I've never done that before, we don't know what could happen." Laurel said.

"Well, do you have any suggestions on how to stop him then, because at this point, the triple sonic attack is the only idea I have left." Oliver said.

"Then think of a new one damn it." Laurel said.

"I don't know because unlike Malcolm, I don't know what it is I'm truly fighting for." Oliver shouted.

"Then maybe you should figure that out before you take him on again." Laurel said as she began to walk out.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked.

"To save Thea, since I know exactly what it is I'm fighting for. I'm fighting for my family, my friends and my city. I'm fighting for my future. I'm fighting for us." Laurel said as she walked out, leaving Oliver to think.

* * *

"Well girlie, I must admit that you put up quite a fight, but now it's over." Dark Archer said as he looked down at a bruised and beaten Thea.

However before he could make the final blow, a ear shattering scream pierced the air and the Black Canary came crashing in through the window.

"Let the girl go." the Black Canary said.

"Hello Laurel. I'm surprised to see that your fiance won't be joining us tonight, but no matter, once I've killed the 2 of you, I'll find him and kill him and finally finish what I started." Dark Archer said.

Rather than giving the Black Canary time to register what he had just said, the Dark Archer charged at her, only to be pinned down by a green arrow.

Black Canary turned, expecting to see the Arrow, but instead she saw Oliver dressed in a new suit that while it was similar to the arrow suit, this one looked to be a bit more well armored and made of leather with kevlar sleeves.

"What happened to your old look Oliver?" Dark Archer asked.

"The name is Green Arrow." Oliver said as he notched 3 arrows from his new quiver and fired.

"Thea, can you walk?" Black Canary asked.

"Yeah." Thea said.

"Then get back to lair and grab your gear. Green Arrow has a very special assignment for you." Black Canary said with a smirk as she told Thea her job, which brought a smile to Thea's face.

"It'll be my genuine pleasure." Thea said as she headed out.


	27. Chapter 27

Speedy was perched on the welcome to Starling City sign, using the screen in her glove to monitor all the surveillance cameras that covered every way out of Starling so that if her mother tried to run after Caitlin outed the Undertaking, she'd know and she'd be there waiting to stop her.

Sure enough after a few minutes of waiting, Thea spotted her mother's car headed for the docks, the least likely escape route, since every other way in and out of the city was under a police barricade.

But Speedy was going to make sure she never even made it to the docks.

At this point, she switched the display on her screen to her arrow selection and picked Cisco's newest beauty, a rocket arrow. After inputting the the GPS coordinates into the arrow's guidance system, Speedy could hear the arrow being assembled in her quiver before popping up for her to grab.

After notching and firing the arrow, Speedy watching as the arrow hooked a cord onto her bow and small rocket thrusters ignited from both the tail of the arrow and the now uncompacted head, taking her speeding through the sky.

"This is awesome." Speedy shouted as she cruised through the city.

* * *

"Black Canary, how does a triple blast sound to you?" Green Arrow asked as they stood against Dark Archer.

"Sounds like this." Black Canary said as she held out her arms and let loose her canary cry, along with her sonic blasts, creating a shockwave that sent Dark Archer spiraling backwards through about 3 walls.

"Well, now we know just how powerful that move is, especially when it's being focused." Green Arrow said.

"He's all yours baby." Black Canary said.

Green Arrow smiled as he ran after Dark Archer, who was dazed, and yanked him to his feet.

"Show your face coward." Green Arrow said, pulling off the hood to reveal the beaten face of Malcolm Merlyn.

"This isn't over Oliver." Malcolm said.

"Yes it is. Your undertaking has been revealed, the SCPD is rounding up your associates as we speak, and now I have you at my mercy." Green Arrow said as he punched Malcolm.

"So what are you going to do?" Malcolm asked.

"I'm finally going to get my revenge on you for everything you've done to me. This is for killing my father," Green Arrow said, punching Malcolm, "this is for blowing up the Queen's Gambit and killing all those innocent crew members," he kicked Merlyn in the gut, "this is for condemning me to 5 years in hell," he slammed Merlyn's head into the floor, "And this is for trying to destroy my city." Green Arrow said as he pulled an arrow out of his quiver and jammed it into Malcolm's chest.

"Ah." Malcolm screamed in agony.

"I guess I should thank you though Malcolm." Green Arrow said as he twisted the arrow, causing Merlyn to squirm in pain.

"For what?" Malcolm asked.

"If it weren't for you, I never would've become the man I am today. And that is why I'm going to do this." Green Arrow said as he prepared to snap Merlyn's neck.

"Green Arrow, are you sure you want to do this?" Black Canary asked.

"It's too risky to leave him alive. He knows my name, your name, Speedy's name, he knows all of our names. Besides, he killed my father. It's only right I get justice for that." Green Arrow said as he snapped Merlyn's neck, effectively ending the Undertaking.

* * *

Moira was almost to the docks when she had to abruptly stop the car to see someone standing in her way.

"Moira Queen, you have failed this city." Speedy said as she held her bow up and realized a sonic arrow that shattered the glass of Moira's windshield, allowing the vigilante to reach in and pull her right out of the car.

"Please don't kill me." Moira cried as she was thrown to the ground, all scratched up and bloody from the windshield.

"I'm not going to kill you, if only because that'll let you off too easily. No, I'm going to make sure you pay for your crimes the right way. With a life sentence in Iron Heights." Speedy said as she let an arrow fly right into her former mother's hand, causing Moira to scream out in pain.

"That was just a taste of the pain the other inmates will inflict upon you as fresh meat. I hope you're comfortable sleeping with one eye open." Speedy said.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Moira asked.

"Because I know your daughter Thea quite well and I know about all the things that you did to her while her brother wasn't there to protect her. Things that not even her own brother knows you did to her. And now I'm making sure that you pay for everytime you so much as raised your voice at that innocent girl." Speedy said as she punched Moira so hard that she passed out from the impact.

* * *

"Well, I'd say missions accomplished. Merlyn's body is currently being dealt with by the SCPD as we speak, along with a recording of his confession to sabotaging the Queen's Gambit, Moira is currently in Starling General under armed guard and will be transported to Iron Heights Prison as soon as she's healed up and the Undertaking has officially been stopped as the machines that could've caused it have been located and dismantled." Cisco said to the rest of the team as they reconvened in the foundry.

"Also, Tommy has regained his fortune and has taken over control of Merlyn Global, dealing with the publicity crisis that his father created." Caitlin said.

"And best of all, since we stopped Merlyn from destroying the Glades, I think that Sara is finally starting to come around on the whole vigilante thing." Laurel said with a grin.

"And while Walter is remaining the CEO of Queen Consolidated, he told us that if we want, we can move back into the mansion, since he filed for divorce from mom this morning, so he will no longer be living there." Thea said.

"We'll talk about that later Speedy. But right now, I think we need to talk about changing your codename." Oliver said.

"Why?" Thea asked.

"Because it was the fact that your codename is Speedy that tipped Malcolm off to all our identities. Anyone who knows what my nickname for you is could potentially figure it out." Oliver said and Thea nodded.

"What do you think about Yellow Arrow?" Thea asked.

"I think that means you want people to slow down in a certain direction." Oliver said.

"What about Artemis, the greek goddess of hunting and archery?" John suggested.

"Artemis, I like it. And isn't she also the moon goddess?" Thea asked.

"Since when do you stay awake in class?" Oliver asked.

"Like you're one to talk, but anyway, my point is that if I'm changing my name, then maybe we should change my suit from yellow to silver, to help throw people off." Thea suggested.

"That's a good idea." Laurel said.

"Yep, and now I think that there's just one more thing we have left to do." Oliver said with a smile as he looked at Laurel, who just smiled back since she was thinking the same thing as him.


	28. Chapter 28

Laurel was currently standing in her and Oliver's bedroom in the loft, dressed in a beautiful white, custom made,vera wang wedding dress and diamond tiara veil from Tiffany's, both of which Oliver had paid for, wanting to make sure she looked as beautiful as possible since they weren't having a big ceremony, while her sister adjusted her dress while her father attempted to talk her out this.

"Are you sure I can't talk you out this Laurel?" Quentin asked.

"Just like it has been the past 55 times you've asked me that, my answer is still no." Laurel said, rolling her eyes at her father.

"So, is Ollie taking you on a honeymoon?" Sara asked.

"Of course, 3 months in a private villa on the Italian coast. Just the 2 of us." Laurel said.

"Sounds nice and like I will not be asking for pictures when you get back." Sara said.

Laurel laughed and said "Yeah, I figured as much. I mean the whole reason why we decided to go on a honeymoon is that we could finally have some alone time. I mean, I love Thea, but ever since she moved in with us, it's been harder for Ollie and I to actually have some time for ourselves."

"Well, something tells me that won't be much of an issue anymore." Sara said with a laugh as Thea entered.

"We're all set if you are?" Thea said.

"Is my mom down there?" Laurel asked.

"No, apparently she couldn't even be bothered to come to Starling for her own daughter's wedding." Thea said.

"Well then, let's get this started." Laurel said, trying not to show her hurt that her own mother wasn't attending her wedding.

"Hey, Oliver's mom isn't here either." Sara said, seeing the look on Laurel's face.

"Yeah well that's because Moira is currently locked up in Iron Heights." Laurel said as they walked out.

* * *

When Laurel came walking down the stairs she saw that it was very small ceremony, like she and Oliver had discussed. The only ones there were the minister, Oliver, John, who was Oliver's best man, Tommy, who was a ring bearer, Thea who was the maid of honor (much to Sara's chagrin), Sara who was also a ring bearer, Laurel's dad, who was walking her down the aisle, Cisco, Caitlin, Walter, Joanna and few of Laurel's other colleagues from CNRI.

After she and her dad reached the altar, Oliver took Laurel's other arm in his own as he prepared to take her the rest of the way when Quentin whispered in his ear "You hurt her and you'll spend the rest of your life sharing a cell with your mother at Iron Heights."

Oliver just rolled his eyes as he took Laurel up to the minister, who began the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to witness the nuptials of Oliver Jonas Queen and Dinah Laurel Lance. Now before we continue, I must ask, is there anyone here who sees a reason as to why these 2 should not be wed. If so, please speak now or forever hold your peace." the minister said.

After a few moments of silence, the minister said "Oliver, will you please read your vows to Dinah."

Oliver nodded and speaking from his heart, he said "Dinah, or Laurel, since I know you hate your first name (Laurel smiled at that), for 5 years, you were the only glimmer of light I had in my life. Every time I felt like I was going to break, like I couldn't keep on going any longer, I just had to look at the picture of you that I always kept with me to remind me of why I had to survive. You are the reason I am standing here right now and I will always love you for that. You somehow see a light inside of me that I sometimes don't even see myself and I am a better man because I have you in my life and I promise I will always be a faithful husband to you."

Laurel smiled as she then recited her own vows.

"Oliver, there is no doubt in my mind or my heart that we were meant to be together. The day I heard the Queen's Gambit went down and you were presumed dead was the worst of my life. And in the 5 years that followed, I felt as though I was slowly dying to, piece after piece of myself breaking away to grief as I mourned your death. Then one year ago my prayers were answered and you came back to me and it was as if I'd come back to. I finally had a reason to be happy and be myself again and I love you even more for that and I promise to always be a faithful wife to you." Laurel said.

After the rings were exchanged, the minister said "Do you, Oliver, take Dinah to be your lawfully wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"

"I, Oliver Jonas Queen, take you, Dinah Laurel Lance, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part." Oliver said.

"And do you Dinah take Oliver to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?" The minister asked.

"I, Dinah Laurel Lance, take you, Oliver Jonas Queen, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part." Laurel said.

"Then, by the power vested in me by the city of Starling, I hereby pronounce you, husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride." the minister said.

Oliver smiled as he and Laurel shared their first kiss as husband and wife and the kiss was filled with so much raw love and passion, it felt as though it were their first kiss ever all over again.

"I now introduce to you all, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Queen." the minister said as they all clapped.

* * *

After the reception had ended, the only people left in the loft were Oliver, Laurel, Thea and John.

"So, you guys sure you can hold down the fort without us for 3 months?" Oliver asked after the ceremony.

"Please, between the 4 of us, I think we'll have it handled." Thea said.

"Actually, it'll just be you, Cisco and Caitlin for awhile." John said.

"Really why?" Oliver asked.

"My ex-wife Lyla and I have been working on tracking down my brother's killer for almost a year now and we think we've finally got a lead in Russia, so I'm heading there tomorrow and I don't know when exactly I'll be back." John said.

"Sounds like there's more than one reason behind this vacation." Laurel said with a knowing smirk.

"Every time Lyla and I have been working together, I can still feel a connection with her and I'm fairly certain she can feel it to. I'm hoping that this trip will help us see if there's still some kind of spark between us." John said.

"Good luck John, I'm sure I can handle this on my own." Thea said.

"You sure you're ready for that Speedy?" Oliver asked.

"It's Artemis now, but yes, especially since I'll have both Caitlin and Cisco on the comms." Thea said.

"Okay, but what exactly are you going to do now that you've finally graduated from high school? After all, you can't spend all day wearing that hood?" Laurel asked.

"Well, I was actually thinking about taking over Verdant." Thea said.

"You're not old enough to drink." Oliver said.

"I don't have to be to serve. Besides, I think it'll good for me since I used to be on the party circuit." Thea said.

"By all means then." Oliver said with a smile.

"One more thing, Ollie, I think that you and Laurel should move into the manor." Thea said.

"What, why?" Laurel asked.

"Because I think that a married couple should have their own place and I wouldn't mind having this place all to myself." Thea said.

"You know Ollie, the manor would be a better place to actually raise a family since it has a lot more space." Laurel said.

"Okay then, we'll move into the manor after we get back from our honeymoon." Oliver said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, now that everyone's gone, you guys should get packing." Thea said, right as their phones went off.

"What do you say. One last take down together before we all go our separate ways for now?" Oliver asked with a smile.


	29. Chapter 29

Artemis was on her way back to the Foundry after dropping off Xavier Reed, aka the Mayor, off at the Precinct for the SCPD when she heard a woman scream, drawing her attention as she changed directions towards the sound.

"Artemis, what are you doing? I thought you were wrapping it up for the night?" Cisco asked into her earbud.

"I was, but then I heard some woman scream and since it's here in the Glades, figured I'd check it out. By the way, I am still loving that codename Artemis." Artemis said.

"Yeah, considering the fact that you insist on us calling you that every time you're out, I think we do." Caitlin said.

"Sorry, can't help it, I'll be back once I've wrapped this up." Artemis said as she ended the message as she arrived on the scene.

* * *

Roy Harper was currently running away with some woman's purse when suddenly a silver arrow embedded itself in the ground in front of them and he was knocked to the ground by a woman in silver as she slid down the cable that was attached to the arrow.

When Roy got his bearings, he saw that the woman was dressed in a what looked like a silver kevlar body armor suit that looked like a resized and redesigned version of the Arrow suit, though this one included a silver cape and a silver arrow design on her chest.

She then pointed her silver bow at him and said in a modulated voice "I think you have something that doesn't belong to you."

"I'm doing what I have to do to survive. Who the hell are you anyway." Roy said, though the woman did not seem deterred.

"I'm Artemis and I don't care how you justify it, stealing is still illegal." Artemis said.

"Well what am I supposed to do. It's not like I can get a job since I never finished high school." Roy said.

"Try applying to work at Thea Queen's club Verdant, I hear they're always looking for more servers. Now, since I can tell you're not a bad kid, you just got dealt a lousy hand, I'll let you off with a warning, but if I catch you stealing from anybody in these streets again, I'm putting you away." Artemis said as she pulled an arrow out of her quiver and firing it before zipping away and out of Roy's life, for now.

* * *

"So, you let the perp go, that's so unlike you." Cisco said as Thea entered the foundry after changing out of her suit.

"I could he's a good kid, just got a rough deal. Hopefully though telling him to apply to Verdant will help him turn his life around." Thea said.

"Not to mention it'll give you an excuse to spend time with him." Caitlin said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Thea said.

"Please, this guy is just your type." Cisco said.

"Shut up Cisco." Thea said.

"Hey, I'm just saying, you tend to go for the bad boys, just like your sister-in-law, I mean, she married the Green Arrow, I'm not sure how much more of a bad boy it get's than that." Cisco said.

"You're just saying that because I won't go out with you." Thea said, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever you say Artemis. But I don't think you should get your hopes up." Cisco said, right as the cameras upstairs picked up movement.

"Well, I stand corrected, your boyfriend's here." Cisco said.

"He's not my boyfriend." Thea said as she headed upstairs.

* * *

"Excuse me, but this club is closed right now." Thea said to Roy as she greeted him.

"I'm sorry, but I heard that you were hiring and I thought an interview may be easier if it wasn't while the club was packed." Roy said.

"In that case, step into my office." Thea said with a smile as she led him over to a table.

"So, first off, I think I should know your name." Thea said.

"Roy Harper." Roy said, holding out his hand.

"Thea Queen." Thea said, shaking it.

"Wow, that's one heck of a grip you've got there." Roy said.

"Thanks I think, but anyway, do you have any prior experience working in a bar?" Thea asked.

"No, this is actually the first job I've ever applied for." Roy said.

"I assume that like most people your age in the Glades, you have a criminal record?" Thea asked.

"Maybe." Roy said nervously, causing Thea to laugh.

"Relax, considering my mother is serving 5 consecutive life sentences in Iron Heights, I don't judge people for having a criminal background, especially if it's just petty theft, which I'm assuming is what your crimes are." Thea said.

"Basically, I was stealing to survive." Roy said.

"So why do you want to work here?" Thea asked.

"I'm trying to start a clean slate and I heard that getting a job here might be a good start, since I didn't actually graduate from high school." Roy said.

"Tell you what. I'll hire you on a trial basis and depending on your performance over the next month, I'll consider making your position permanent, deal?" Thea asked.

"Deal." Roy agreed.


	30. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It has been 5 years since Oliver Queen came back from the dead and things in his life had never been better. He was now the mayor of Starling City and perhaps its most effective one ever, since he had instituted new policies such as the Anti-Crime Unit, rezoning for low income housing in Orchid Bay, and establishing the Starling City Firearms freedom act, as examples.

Also, after stopping the siege of Starling City, being led by his former friend Slade Wilson, an attack from the League of Assassins, saving not only the city, but also the world from Damien Darhk's plans at a nuclear apocalypse and stopping the throwing star killer Prometheus, aka, Adrian Chase, Oliver's alter ego the Green Arrow as now the hero of Starling City. His team had also expanded to include Thea's boyfriend Roy Harper, who went by the codename Arsenal and Cisco, who after being exposed to the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion in Central City 3 years ago, had caused him to become a metahuman with the ability to manipulate the vibrational energy of reality, which he had learned to weaponize into vibrational blasts and thus, he decided to call himself Vibe, and the tech genius Ray Palmer, who had invented a super exosuit which he used to call himself, the Atom.

On the Oliver Queen side of his life, things were just as good, since after about a year, Laurel had told her dad and sister about everything and they had understood, and Laurel had even confronted her father about keeping her birth defect a secret from her, but they worked things out.

At the end of Oliver's second year back, Laurel revealed to him that she was pregnant, which caused her to step down as the Black Canary, since while she loved being a vigilante, she knew in her heart that she couldn't be both a vigilante and a mother. Oliver had originally wanted to retire from being the Green Arrow to, but Laurel had convinced him that the city still needed the Green Arrow. On October 8th, Laurel gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that they named Riley Sara Queen, since Laurel downright refused to have their daughter named after either of them, since she was named after her mother and she'd always hated sharing a name with her.

John had remarried Lyla and they had a son about a year younger than Riley named John Jr., or JJ for short and since Lyla had become the director of Argus a year ago, Laurel found herself babysitting for JJ, which she loved, considering how well Riley and JJ got along together, she swore they were going to start dating some day, since according to her dad, Laurel and Oliver had been the same way when they were that young.

Oliver still could not believe how much his life had changed. 5 years ago he'd never thought he'd come home. Now he had everything he'd ever wanted. A wife he loved, a daughter he adored and every day he woke up feeling like the luckiest man alive and the truth was that he practically was and he wouldn't trade this life for anything if he could.

* * *

 **Hope you all liked A Different Arrow, but all good things must come to an end, especially since after watching the Arrow Season 5 finale, I've started to come up with a new idea for Laurel's return from the grave in a turn of events on how I think the episode Lian Yu should've gone down that I will try to have up as soon as possible, I hope you all enjoyed this story**

 **Percabeth4eva1**


End file.
